Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has secured number one position in the latest global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers league table based on deal value in 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The American law firm advised on 76 deals worth US$689.3bn, including a major transaction during the period – Bristol-Myers Squibb’s acquisition of Celgene for US$89.5bn. The company also witnessed a significant year-on-year increase of 43.96% in deal value during the period.

GlobalData, which compiles league tables using real-time data tracked from all M&A, private equity/venture capital and asset transaction activity globally, confirmed that Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position with transactions worth US$523.3bn, marking a 58.32% year-on-year increase in deal value.

Ravi Tokala, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz emerged as the top legal adviser in 2019, even though the firm advised on only 76 deals, which was the third lowest number among top 20 advisors, mainly driven by its involvement in 16 megadeals (>US$ 10bn) among 36 deals recorded. Despite advising on the highest number of deals, Kirkland & Ellis ranked second, as the firm was involved in low-value transactions and less megadeals.”

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Sullivan & Cromwell advised on 145 transactions worth US$481.5bn. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton also worked on 145 deals, but with a worth of US$425.4bn. With 183 deals worth US$392.1bn, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett held the fifth position.

In deal volume terms, Kirkland & Ellis topped the table with 570 deals, followed by Jones Day with 444 deals worth US$226.5bn.

The overall announced deal value stood at US$3,567.4bn in 2019, a decline of 8.4% from 2018.

In 2019, 57,391 deals were recorded globally, marking a 21.55% increase from 2018.