Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region for 2020 by value and volume, respectively. Clifford Chance advised on 10 deals worth US$21.2bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Allen & Overy led in volume terms having advised on 21 deals worth US$12.6bn. A total of 954 M&A deals were announced in the MEA region during 2020, marking a 12.6% decrease over the 1,092 deals announced in 2019, 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 2020’, deal value decreased by 53.7% from US$177bn in 2019 to US$82bn in 2020.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Clifford Chance advised on four billion-dollar deals that were valued more than or equal to US$1bn, which also included one mega-deal valued more than or equal to US$10bn and was the only adviser that managed to surpass the US$20bn mark during the COVID-19 hit 2020.

“Meanwhile, Allen & Overy was also the only firm to advise on more than 20 deals. It also managed to secure the sixth position by value.”

Ashurst occupied the second position in GlobalData’s ranking of legal advisers for M&As in the MEA region by value with five deals worth a total US$17.1bn, followed by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton with two deals worth US$15bn. Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm and Khoshaim & Associates jointly held fourth position with a single deal each worth US$14.8bn.

White & Case occupied second position by volume with 13 deals worth US$2.1bn, followed by Baker McKenzie with 12 deals worth US$3.9bn.