A&O Shearman and White & Case were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the Middle East & African region during the first half (H1) of 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, which ranks legal advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised.

Based on its Deals Database, the leading data and analytics company has revealed that A&O Shearman achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $2.8 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, White & Case led in terms of volume by advising on a total of eight deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “White & Case registered an improvement in the total number of deals advised by it during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024. Resultantly, its ranking by volume also improved from the second position in H1 2024 to the top position in H1 2025. Apart from leading by volume, White & Case also occupied the third position by value.

“Meanwhile, A&O Shearman, which was the top adviser by value in H1 2024, also managed to retain its leadership position by this metric in H1 2025. Apart from leading by value, A&O Shearman also held the fifth position by volume during H1 2025.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $2.5 billion worth of deals, followed by White & Case with $2.4 billion, Paul Hastings with $2.4 billion, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with $2.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Baker McKenzie occupied the second position in terms of volume with six deals, followed by Dentons with four deals, DLA Piper with four deals, and A&O Shearman with three deals.