Legal advisers Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Kirkland & Ellis were noted to be the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the US in the first half (H1) of 2020, based on deal value and volume, respectively. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on 51 deals worth US$59.2bn, which was the highest among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in volume terms having advised on 159 deals worth US$55.5bn during H1, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Aurojyoti Bose, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis, which led by volume, was the only advisor to advise on more than 100 deals while also surpassing the US$50bn mark. In contrast, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which did not even feature in the list of top ten advisors by volume, topped the chart in value terms. Interestingly, both Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on 18 deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn each. However, involvement in one mega deal (worth >US$10bn) helped Simpson Thacher & Bartlett grab top spot by value.”

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom occupied the second position by value with 49 deals worth US$56.4bn followed by Kirkland & Ellis. Latham & Watkins occupied the second position by volume with 110 deals worth US$37.6bn followed by Jones Day with 97 deals worth US$16.8bn.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which topped the US deals league table by value, stood at eighthposition (by value) in the recently released global league table of top 20 M&A legal advisers by GlobalData. Similarly, Kirkland & Ellis, which topped the US league table by volume, also occupied the top position (by volume) in the global league table.