GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, has revealed its league tables for top 10 legal advisers by value and volume in North America for Q1-Q3 2021 in its report, ‘Global and North America M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables Q1-Q3 2021’.
According to GlobalData’s M&A report, a total of 12,092 M&A deals were announced in the region during Q1-Q3 2021. The deal value for the region increased by 122.4% from $704bn during Q1-Q3 2020 to $1.6 trillion during Q1-Q3 2021.
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Top Advisers by Value and Volume
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions legal advisers in North America for Q1-Q3 2021 by value and volume, respectively.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on 170 deals worth $398.9bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers.
Kirkland & Ellis led in volume terms, having advised on 593 deals worth $327.2bn.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Kirkland & Ellis was the only firm that managed to advise on just shy of 600 deals during Q1-Q3 2021, outstripping its peers by a vast margin in terms of volume. Despite leading in volume terms, this US-based law firm lost the top position by value to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, due to its involvement in low-value transactions. Nevertheless, Kirkland & Ellis advised on 72 billion-dollar deals (valued more than or equal to $1bn) and managed to occupy third rank in value terms.
“Meanwhile, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which advised on 75 billion-dollar deals, ranked first in the region by value. This US-based law firm also managed to advise on nine mega deals (valued more than or equal to $10bn). On the other hand, Kirkland & Ellis advised on four mega deals.”
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz occupied the second position in terms of value with 82 deals worth $370.5bn, followed by Kirkland & Ellis. Sullivan & Cromwell occupied the fourth position with 102 deals worth $307.6bn, followed by Latham & Watkins with 293 deals worth $284bn.
Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume, followed by Willkie Farr & Gallagher with 239 deals worth $136.6bn, Jones Day with 210 deals worth $84.2bn and Goodwin Procter with 186 deals worth $56.2bn.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions from leading advisers, through adviser submission forms on GlobalData’s website.
