Kirkland & Ellis and A&O Shearman have led legal adviser rankings for Middle East and Africa mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2026, based on GlobalData league table data.
Figures from GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database indicate that Kirkland & Ellis worked on transactions with a combined value of $33.4bn.
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A&O Shearman recorded the highest number of mandates at four and placed second by value, with $8.1bn.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ranked third by deal value at $6.2bn.
Meitar Law Offices followed with $5.9bn, while Cravath Swaine & Moore advised on deals worth $4.7bn.
In the volume ranking, Baker McKenzie and CMS shared second place with four deals each. Meitar Law Offices and White & Case were next, with three deals apiece.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose commented: “A&O Shearman, apart from leading by volume, also occupied second position by value in Q1 2026 with the total value of deals advised by it pegged at $8.2 billion. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis advised on only two deals but managed to top the value chart due to one very high-value deal ($33.4 billion deal for the acquisition of AES by consortium of acquirers).”
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 of deals from leading advisers.
