GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, has revealed its global league tables for legal advisers by value and volume for 2020.
Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis were top legal advisers by value and volume
Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers for 2020 by value and volume, respectively, according to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database.
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Latham & Watkins advised on 434 deals worth $430.9bn – this was the highest among all the advisers. Kirkland & Ellis led in terms of volume, having advised on 680 deals worth $344.9bn.
GlobalData has published top 20 league table of legal advisers ranked according to the value of announced M&A deals globally.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Latham & Watkins was the only adviser that managed to surpass the $400bn mark in deal value during the Covid-19 hit 2020, while Kirkland & Ellis was also the only adviser to advise on more than 600 deals.
“However, the firms involvement in a higher number of big-ticket deals remain key as Kirkland & Ellis, despite advising on relatively higher number of deals, lost the top position by value to Latham & Watkins. While Latham & Watkins managed to advise on seven megadeals worth greater than or equal to $10bn, Kirkland & Ellis advised on five such deals.”
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By GlobalDataSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom took the second position by value, with 212 deals worth $376.1bn. This was followed by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, with 74 deals worth $357.8bn. Kirkland & Ellis stood at the fourth position by value.
Latham & Watkins took the second position by volume. It was followed by Jones Day with 360 deals worth $102bn, and Baker McKenzie, with 351 deals worth $69.2bn.
Bose adds: “Surprisingly, Jones Day and Baker McKenzie failed to make it to the list of top 20 advisors by value. In fact, half of the top 20 advisors by volume did not find a place in the list of top 20 advisors by value due to involvement in low-value transactions.”
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions from leading advisers, through adviser submission forms on GlobalData’s website
