Vinson & Elkins and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the oil & gas sector for 2021 by value and volume, respectively, according to GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that Vinson & Elkins advised on 48 deals worth $47.5 billion, which was the highest value among all advisers tracked. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led by deal volume, having advised on 51 deals worth $29.2 billion. A total of 1,799 M&A deals were announced in the sector during 2021.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Oil & Gas M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables 2021’, deal value for the sector increased by 16.4% from $287.9 billion during 2020 to $335 billion during 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the only firm that managed to advise on more than 50 deals during 2021. However, due to its involvement in relatively low-value deals, it had to settle for the seventh position by value.

“Meanwhile, the value of deals advised by Vinson & Elkins was just a little shy of the $50 billion mark. The average size of deals advised by Vinson & Elkins stood at $989.9 million, while it stood at $572.4 million for Kirkland & Ellis.”

Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of value, with 24 deals worth $40.7 billion; followed by White & Case, with 21 deals worth $38.8 billion; Baker Botts, with 24 deals worth $38.7 billion; and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, with 10 deals worth $36.8 billion.

Vinson & Elkins occupied the second position in terms of volume, followed by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, with 25 deals worth $15 billion. Latham & Watkins occupied the fourth position by volume, followed by Baker Botts.