Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CMS were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in Europe for 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised on 100 deals worth $143.7bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, CMS led in volume terms having advised on 355 deals worth $31bn. A total of 11,842 M&A deals were announced in the region during 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Europe M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables 2021’, deal value for the region increased by 27.6% from $801.3bn during 2020 to $1 trillion during 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “CMS was the only firm that managed to advise on more than 300 deals during 2021. However, despite leading by volume, it did not feature among the top 10 advisors by value due to involvement in low-value transactions.

“On the other hand, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised on even less than one-third of the number of deals advised by CMS but managed to top by value due to involvement in big-ticket deals. While Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer managed to advise on 33 billion-dollar deals (valued more than or equal to $1bn) that also included one mega deal valued more than $10bn, CMS advised on 10 billion-dollar deals.”

Sullivan & Cromwell occupied the second position in terms of value with 28 deals worth $137.7bn, followed by White & Case with 163 deals worth $124.6bn, Clifford Chance with 131 deals worth $106.7bn and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with 82 deals worth $105.9bn.

Baker McKenzie occupied the second position in terms of volume with 226 deals worth $40.9bn, followed by Allen & Overy with 203 deals worth $60.6bn and DLA Piper with 164 deals worth $9.8bn. White & Case occupied the fifth position by volume.