Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the consumer sector in 2023 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 reveals that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $11.3 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 19 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom registered an improvement in the value of total deals advised and its ranking by value in 2023 compared to the previous year. It was the only adviser to surpass $10 billion in total deal value in 2023. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser by volume in 2022 and continued to lead by this metric in 2023 as well.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $9.8 billion worth of deals, followed by Davis Polk & Wardwell with $8.8 billion, White & Case with $8.4 billion, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges with $6 billion.

Meanwhile, CMS occupied the second position in terms of volume with 17 deals, followed by Allen & Overy with 16 deals, Baker McKenzie with 14 deals, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 13 deals.