Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the consumer sector for H1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on nine deals worth US$24.8bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in volume terms having advised on 31 deals worth US$14.4bn. A total of 1,889 M&A deals were announced in the sector during H1 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Consumer M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables H1 2021’, deal value for the sector increased by 106.6% from US$106bn in H1 2020 to US$219bn in H1 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the only firm to advise on more than 30 deals. Additionally, it managed to advise on some of the high-value transactions, which helped it to secure the third position by value as well.

“On the other hand, although Simpson Thacher & Bartlett led by value, it was not able to obtain a position in the list of top ten advisers by volume. Interestingly, the majority of the top ten advisors by value showcased single-digit deal volume.”

Blake Cassels & Graydon occupied the second position in terms of value with eight deals worth US$14.6bn, followed by Kirkland & Ellis. Allens occupied the fourth position in terms of volume with two deals worth US$14.2bn and Davis Polk & Wardwell with nine deals worth US$9.8bn.

Allen & Overy occupied the second position in terms of volume with 22 deals worth US$1bn, followed by Jones Day with 20 deals worth US$1.3bn, Latham & Watkins with 19 deals worth US$7.5bn and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison with 18 deals worth US$9.1bn.