Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Kirkland & Ellis have emerged as the leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the retail sector by value and volume the first half (H1) of 2024, according to GlobalData’s latest league table.
GlobalData, parent of the Retail Insight Network and a leading data and analytics company, ranked advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised.
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According to its financial deals database, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett secured the top spot by deal value by advising on $8.3bn worth of deals.
Kirkland & Ellis dominated deal volume by advising on a total of nine deals in the first half of the fiscal year 2024.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Not only was Simpson Thacher & Bartlett the top adviser by value, but it was also much ahead of its peers by this metric.
“The involvement in an $8.3bn deal for the acquisition of a 60% stake in Newland Commercial Management by a consortium of investors played a pivotal role for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in securing the top spot by value. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis’ ranking by volume improved from the second position in H1 2023 to the top position in H1 2024.”
In terms of deal value, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison occupied the second position by advising on $3.5bn worth of deals.
They were followed by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld with a deal value of $2.6bn, Vinson & Elkins by advising on deals worth $1.9bn and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with $1.7bn.
Addleshaw Goddard held the second position in terms of volume by advising on six deals, followed by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with five.
Jones Day and Cuatrecasas also advised on five deals each over the period.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To further ensure the robustness of the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
