Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal adviser based on deal value in Q1 2020, having advised on two deals worth US$6.40bn, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData, which tracks all M&A, private equity/venture capital and asset transaction activity around the world, confirmed that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was followed by Allen & Overy with three deals worth US$5.14bn and Sidley Austin with five deals worth US$4.51bn.

Aurojyoti Bose, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was the leading legal adviser in the power sector, in terms of value, but lagged behind its peers in volume terms. Lee & Li and Clifford Chance also achieved high deal values but saw less volume.”

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett finished at 13^th position in the recently released global league table of top 20 M&A legal advisers by GlobalData. In this ranking, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom topped the global rankings chart, followed by Latham & Watkins.

Watson Farley & Williams was the top M&A legal adviser for the power sector based on deal volume in Q1 2020. The UK law firm advised on six deals worth US$3bn. Sidley Austin occupied second position with five deals worth $4.51bn, followed by Linklaters with five transactions worth $3.25bn.

Bose continues: “Watson Farley & Williams, Sidney Austin and Linklaters were also among the top ten advisors by deal value in Q1, however, four of the top ten firms by volume failed to find a place in the list of top ten advisors by value due to involvement in relatively low-value deals.”

The total deal value in the power sector plunged by 28.38% from US$59.5bn in Q1 2019 to US$42.6bn in Q1 2020. The sector saw 511 deals in Q1 2020, a decrease of 24.74% from 679 deals in Q1 2019.