Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Willkie Farr & Gallagher were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the retail sector for Q1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison advised on five deals worth US$10.7bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Willkie Farr & Gallagher led in volume terms having advised on seven deals worth US$3.7bn. A total of 494 M&A deals were announced in the sector during Q1 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Retail M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables Q1 2021’, deal value for the sector decreased by 20.5% from US$44bn in Q1 2020 to US$35bn in Q1 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison was the only adviser that managed to cross US$10bn mark. The firm’s involvement in four billion-dollar deals helped it top the list by value.

“On the other hand, Willkie Farr & Gallagher led by volume but did not advise on any billion-dollar deal, thereby lagging behind in terms of value. While the average size of deals advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison stood at US$2.1bn, it was just US$530m for Willkie Farr & Gallagher.”

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett occupied the second position in terms of value with two deals worth US$8.3bn, followed by Ropes & Gray with four deals worth US$7.3bn. Willkie Farr & Gallagher occupied the fourth position by value.

Latham & Watkins occupied the second position by volume with six deals worth US$2.8bn. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison occupied the third position by volume, followed by Kirkland & Ellis with five deals worth US$765m.