Allen & Overy was the top legal adviser for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region by both deal value and volume in the first half (H1) of 2020, having advised on seven deals worth US$9.3bn, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Aurojyoti Bose, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Allen & Overy was the only firm that managed to advise on three deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn during H1, thereby getting a distinct edge over its peers in terms of total value. However, it had close competition in volume terms.”

Binder Grosswang Rechtsanwalte and Eisenberger & Herzog were joint second legal advisers for M&A deals in the MEA region, by value, with one deal worth US$4.7bn each. On the other hand, White & Case occupied the second position by volume having advised on seven deals worth US$1.1bn during H1, followed by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with five deals worth US$4bn, according to GlobalData.

The number of deals announced in the MEA decreased by 9.1% from 933 in H1 2019 to 848 in H1 2020, according to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database. Deal value also decreased by 67.1% from US$126.4bn in H1 2019 to US$41.6bn in H1 2020.

Allen & Overy, which topped the Middle East & African deals league table, stood at seventh and tenth positions by value and volume, respectively, in GlobalData’s recently released global league table of top 20 M&A legal advisers.