Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the technology, media & telecom (TMT) sector for Q1-Q3 2021 by value and volume, respectively, according to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database. The leading data and analytics company notes that Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison advised on 77 deals worth $166.8bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers, while Kirkland & Ellis led in volume terms – having advised on 265 deals worth $152.9bn. A total of 9,197 M&A deals were announced in the sector during Q1-Q3 2021.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Technology, Media & Telecom M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables Q1-Q3 2021’, deal value for the sector increased by 53.5% from $662bn during Q1-Q3 2020 to $1 trillion during Q1-Q3 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the only firm to advise on more than 200 deals. Furthermore, apart from leading in volume terms, the firm also occupied the second position in terms of value due to its involvement in a significant number of billion-dollar transactions.

“Interestingly, Kirkland & Ellis advised on 32 billion-dollar deals when compared to Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, which advised on 22 billion-dollar deals. However, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison’s involvement in a higher number of mega deals (valued more than or equal to $10bn), helped it top the ranking by value. While Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison advised on three mega deals, Kirkland & Ellis advised on two mega deals.”

Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of value, followed by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett with 67 deals worth $130.8bn, Latham & Watkins with 163 deals worth $125bn and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with 83 deals worth $107.7bn.

Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume, followed by Willkie Farr & Gallagher with 157 deals worth $31.4bn, Fenwick & West with 100 deals worth $26.9bn and Jones Day with 98 deals worth $22.8bn.