Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Latham & Watkins were top legal advisers by value and volume in global consumer goods sector in H1 2020

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Latham & Watkins were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the global consumer goods sector in the first half (H1) of 2020 based on deal value and volume, respectively. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on 11 deals worth US$18.5bn, which was the highest among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins led in volume terms having advised on 17 deals worth US$5.8bn during H1, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Aurojyoti Bose, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was the only adviser that managed to surpass the US$10bn mark during the COVID-19-hit H1, maintaining a significant lead over its peers. The firm advised on five billion-dollar deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn and its involvement in these big-ticket deals helped it top the list by value.

“Latham & Watkins, on the other hand, had to settle for seventh place in terms of value – despite attaining top spot by volume – due to its involvement in only one billion-dollar deal and its comparatively low-value transactions.”

Kirkland & Ellis occupied second position by value with 13 deals worth US$9.5bn, followed by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz with six deals worth US$8.1bn. Baker McKenzie occupied second position by volume with 16 deals worth US$5.7bn, followed by White & Case with 16 deals worth US$1.3bn.

The number of deals announced in the global consumer goods sector decreased by 24.3% from 2,588 in H1 2019 to 1,959 in H1 2020, according to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database. Deal value decreased by 49% from US$144.5bn in H1 2019 to US$73.7bn in H1 2020.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which topped the consumer goods sector deals league table by value, stood at eighth position (by value) in GlobalData’s released global league table of top 20 M&A legal advisers. Latham & Watkins, which topped the consumer goods sector league table by volume, occupied third position (by volume) in the global league table.

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