Davis Polk & Wardwell and CMS were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the global power sector for 2020 by value and volume, respectively. Davis Polk & Wardwell advised on five deals worth US$31.4bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, CMS led in volume terms having advised on 41 deals worth US$5.8bn. A total of 2,033 M&A deals were announced in the sector during 2020, marking a 18.3% decrease over the 2,487 deals announced in 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Power M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables 2020’, deal value increased by 1% from US$272bn in 2019 to US$275bn in 2020.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Davis Polk & Wardwell advised on three billion-dollar deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn including a mega deal (deal valued more than or equal to US$10bn). Despite relatively fewer deals, involvement in these high-value transactions helped the firm top the chart by value. In fact, Davis Polk & Wardwell was the only firm to surpass US$30bn.

“Meanwhile, CMS was the only firm to advise on more than 40 deals, but surprisingly, it did not rank among the list of top 10 advisors by value due to its involvement in fewer high-value transactions. It managed to advise on two billion-dollar deals, but lacked any mega deal.”

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton occupied the second position in GlobalData’s ranking of legal advisers for M&As in the global power sector by value with five deals worth US$26.9bn, followed by Latham & Watkins with 18 deals worth US$19.7bn and Linklaters with 25 deals worth US$18.8bn.

Watson Farley & Williams held the second spot by volume with 39 deals worth US$6.1bn followed by White & Case with 29 deals worth US$5.7bn and Clifford Chance with 28 deals worth US$16.5bn.