Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and AZB & Partners emerged as the top legal advisers for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by value and volume, respectively, in Asia-Pacific (APAC) for Q1-Q3 2020. A total of 5,298 M&A deals were announced in the region during the period, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s ‘Global and Asia-Pacific M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables Q1-Q3 2020’, there was a 10% increase over the 4,817 deals announced during the same period in 2019. Deal value also increased by 21.3% from US$359bn in Q1-Q3 2019 to US$435bn in Q1-Q3 2020.

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto gained top spot in terms of deal value by advising on 17 deals of worth US$67.2bn, the highest value among all the advisers. On the other hand, AZB & Partners led in terms of volume with 53 deals of worth US$21.2bn, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Despite being the only adviser that managed to advise on more than 50 deals, AZB & Partners lost the top position by value to Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, which advised on less than half the number of deals.

“Mori Hamada & Matsumoto advised on six billion-dollar deals (worth greater than or equal to US$1bn), including one mega deal worth US$40.7bn. AZB & Partners also advised on same number of billion-dollar deals but without any mega deal.”

Nishimura & Asahi occupied second position by value with 29 deals of worth US$51.5bn, followed by Davis Polk & Wardwell with 31 deals of worth US$42.5bn and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe with five deals of worth US$41.2bn.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Herbert Smith Freehills occupied second position and third position by volume with 44 deals each of worth US$10.4bn and US$6.7bn, respectively, followed by Khaitan with 36 deals of worth US$2.1bn.

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and Nishimura & Asahi occupied the top position by value and volume, respectively, in the key Asia-Pacific market, Japan.