Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and TriLegal were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the Asia-Pacific region during the first half (H1) of 2024 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.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett achieved the leading position in terms of value by advising on $16 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, TriLegal led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 23 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “TriLegal registered improvement in deals volume and consequently its ranking by this metric improved from third position in H1 2023 to the top spot in H1 2024.

“Meanwhile, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett witnessed a massive jump in the total value of deals advised during H1 2024 compared to H1 2023. This can be understood from the fact that the average size of deals advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett witnessed a massive jump from $162 million in H1 2023 to $2.3 billion in H1 2024. Resultantly, its ranking by value also took a big leap from 48^th position in H1 2023 to the top position in H1 2024.”

Herbert Smith Freehills occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $7.9 billion worth of deals, followed by Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu with $6.5 billion, King & Wood Mallesons with $6.4 billion and Covington & Burling with $6 billion.

Meanwhile, AZB & Partners occupied the second position in terms of volume with 18 deals, followed by Khaitan & Co with 15 deals, Gilbert + Tobin with 11 deals and Allen & Overy with nine deals.