Leading data and analytics company GlobalData has published its league tables for the top ten legal advisers by value and volume in the retail sector for Q1-Q3 2022.

During the nine-month period, 1,470 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worth a total of $59.7bn were announced in the sector.

Top advisers by value and volume

According to GlobalData’s ‘Global and Retail M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables Q1-Q3 2022’, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis emerged as the top M&A legal advisers in the retail sector for Q1-Q3 2022 by value and volume, respectively.

Davis Polk & Wardwell advised on $3.7bn worth of deals, while Kirkland & Ellis advised on a total of 18 deals.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “While only very few firms managed to see double-digit deal volume during Q1-Q3 2022, Kirkland & Ellis was just two deals away from hitting the 20 deals volume mark.

“Apart from leading by volume, it also occupied the seventh position by value.

“Meanwhile, Davis Polk & Wardwell, despite advising on a much lesser number of deals and without featuring among the top ten by deals volume, managed to top the chart by value.

“Of the four deals advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell, three were billion-dollar deals, which helped it occupy the top position by value.”

According to GlobalData’s financial deals database, the other high rankers by value included Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in second position with $2.4bn worth of deals, followed by Slaughter and May with $2.2bn, Allen & Overy with $2.2bn and Clifford Chance with $2.1bn.

In terms of volume, AZB & Partners secured the second position with 12 deals, followed by CMS with 12 deals. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Jones Day each had seven deals.

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 increase the reliability of the data, the company also seeks submissions from leading advisers through adviser submission forms on GlobalData’s website.