Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CMS were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in Europe in 2022 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 Financial Deals Database, the leading data and analytics company has revealed that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer achieved its leading position in term of value by advising on $69.2 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, CMS led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 329 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “CMS was a clear winner in volume terms. It managed to register a massive 44.9% in deals volume growth in 2022 over 2021. Resultantly, it emerged as the only firm to advise on more than 300 deals in 2022, thereby outpacing its peers by a significant margin.

“Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, despite advising on around one-fifth of the number of deals advised by CMS, secured the top position by value. It managed to advise on 15 billion-dollar deals*, which also included one deal valued more than $10 billion. Involvement in these high-value transactions helped Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to top the chart by value.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Allen & Overy occupied the second position by value, by advising on $63.7 billion worth of deals; followed by Latham & Watkins with $63.5 billion; Linklaters with $56.4 billion; and Slaughter and May with $54.1 billion.

Meanwhile, White & Case occupied the second position in terms of volume with 192 deals; followed by Allen & Overy with 171 deals; Baker McKenzie with 156 deals; and Latham & Watkins with 136 deals.