Latham & Watkins and CMS were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the European region in 2024 by value and volume, respectively according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that Latham & Watkins achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $58.8 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, CMS led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 265 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “CMS was the clear winner by volume outpacing its peers by a significant margin in 2024. It was the only firm to advise on more than 200 deals during the year. Interestingly, CMS also led by volume during the previous year as well.

“Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins’s ranking by value took a leap from eighth position in 2023 to the top position in 2024. This could be attributed to the massive jump in the total value of deals advised by it in 2024 compared to 2023 due to the involvement in some big-ticket deals. Latham & Watkins advised on 15 billion-dollar deals* that also included one mega deal valued more than $10 billion. The significance of these could also be understood from the fact that the average value of deals advised by Latham & Watkins, which stood at $489.4 in 2023, reached $933.1 million in 2024.”

Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $57.6 billion worth of deals, followed by White & Case with $54.3 billion, Linklaters with $44.4 billion and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with $40.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy occupied the second position in terms of volume with 141 deals, followed by White & Case with 137 deals, Cuatrecasas with 103 deals and Addleshaw Goddard with 100 deals.

*≥ $1 billion