Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Watson Farley & Williams were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the power sector for H1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. According to the deals database by leading data and analytics company GlobalData, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised on seven deals worth $25.3bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers tracked. Meanwhile, Watson Farley & Williams led in terms of volume, having advised on 24 deals worth $421m. A total of 1,197 M&A deals were announced in the sector during H1 2021.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Power M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables H1 2021’, deal value for the sector increased by 116% from $102bn in H1 2020 to $220bn in H1 2021.

Ravi Tokala, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Watson Farley & Williams was the only firm to advise on more than 20 deals. Surprisingly, it did not manage to advise on any high-value transactions, and so did not feature among the top ten advisors by value.

“On the other hand, despite close competition in terms of deal value, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton surpassed the $25bn mark. While Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton managed to advise on three deals valued more than or equal to $1bn, this also included one deal valued more than $21bn, which helped it top the list by value.”

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom occupied second position in terms of value, with 12 deals worth $24.3bn, followed by Davis Polk & Wardwell, with four deals worth $24.1bn. Sullivan & Cromwell occupied fourth position by value, with four deals worth $22.5bn, while Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz ranked fifth with three deals worth $21.3bn.

White & Case occupied the second position in terms of volume, with 19 deals worth $10.3bn, followed by Allen & Overy, with 18 deals worth $8.4bn. CMS occupied fourth position by volume, with 18 deals worth $1.4bn, and Latham & Watkins, with 16 deals worth $12.2bn.