Sullivan & Cromwell and Veirano Advogados emerged as the leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in South & Central America across the first three quarters (Q1–Q3) of 2026, heading the rankings by deal value and volume, respectively.
Figures from GlobalData’s Deals Database, published in its legal advisers league table, show Sullivan & Cromwell placed first by value after advising on transactions totalling $8bn.
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Veirano Advogados secured the top position by volume, having worked on eight deals during the period.
Behind Sullivan & Cromwell in the value table, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom took second place with $7.3bn worth of deals.
Conyers Dill & Pearman followed in third position, advising on $6.4bn in transactions.
Homburger and Lenz & Staehelin tied for fourth place in value, with each firm working on a transaction worth $6.2bn.
In the volume standings, Mayer Brown finished second, advising on seven deals.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Posse Herrera & Ruiz Abogados also registered seven deals each, while Baker McKenzie advised on six deals.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Veirano Advogados saw its ranking by volume improve from the second position during Q1-Q3 2025 to the top position during Q1-Q3 2026 despite a year-on-year (YoY) drop in deal volume.
“Meanwhile, Sullivan & Cromwell, which led the chart by value, was not among the top 10 during Q1-Q3 2025. Of the three deals it advised on during Q1-Q3 2026, two were billion-dollar deals and the involvement in these big-ticket deals helped it secure the top spot by value.”
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.
