White & Case has emerged as the top legal adviser for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in the Middle East & Africa for H1 2021 in both value and volume terms, having advised on 16 deals worth US$18.9bn. A total of 537 M&A deals were announced in the region during H1 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Middle East & Africa M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables H1 2021’, deal value for the region declined by 1.8% from US$57bn in H1 2020 to US$56bn in H1 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “White & Case was the only advisor that managed to surpass the US$10bn mark while also having double-digit deal volume, thereby outpacing its peers by a great margin. The firm advised on three deals valued more than or equal to US$1bn, which also included a megadeal (valued more than or equal to US$10bn).”

Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of value with seven deals worth US$9.1bn, followed by Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein with six deals worth US$5.8bn, Herbert Smith Freehills with four deals worth US$4.1bn and Gorrissen Federspiel with one deal worth US$4.1bn.

Allen & Overy occupied the second position in terms of volume with eight deals worth US$1.6bn, followed by Latham & Watkins and Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein. Clifford Chance occupied the sixth position by volume with six deals worth US$3.6bn.