Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and White & Case led legal adviser rankings for retail sector mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first half of 2026 (H1 2026), according to a league table from data analytics company GlobalData.

GlobalData, the parent company of Retail Insight Network, said the table ranks legal advisers by both the value and volume of the M&A deals on which they provided advice.

Using its Financial Deals Database, the UK-based company said Anderson Mori & Tomotsune took the top position by deal value, advising on transactions worth $2.4bn.

White & Case ranked first by deal volume, having advised on eight deals.

In the deal value table, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer was second with deals worth $1.9bn.

Nishimura & Asahi and Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners followed, each advising on $1.2bn worth of deals, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on deals valued at $1.1bn.

In the volume table, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was second with five deals.

Latham & Watkins also advised on five deals, followed by Baker McKenzie with four deals and A&O Shearman with four deals.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “There was an improvement in the total number of deals advised by White & Case in H1 2026 compared to H1 2025 and its ranking by volume improved from tenth to the top position during this period.

“Meanwhile, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune’s ranking by value improved from 13th position in H1 2025 to the top position in H1 2026, despite registering a year-on-year decline in total deal value. It also held the sixth position by volume in H1 2026.”

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available in the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.

To ensure further robustness of the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.