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 the first half (H1) of 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The American law firm advised on 36 deals worth US$528.1bn, 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 56.05% 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$381.6bn, marking a 106.65% year-on-year increase in deal value.

Ravi Tokala, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “With involvement in multiple mega deals, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was the only legal adviser to cross the US$500bn deal value mark in H1 2019. In terms of volume, Kirkland & Ellis and Jones Day emerged as leaders, with both advising on more than 200 deals each. In addition, 11 of the top 20 advisers witnessed a drop in advised deal value as compared with H1 2018, which is consistent with the drop in overall deals value for the first half of the year.”

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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised on 64 transactions worth US$278.7bn while Sullivan & Cromwell worked on 59 deals worth US$274.5bn. With 29 deals worth US$271.5bn, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson held the fifth position.

In deal volume terms, Kirkland & Ellis topped the table with 272 deals, followed by Jones Day with 211 deals worth US$150.5bn.

The overall announced deal value stood at US$1987.39bn in H1 2019, a decline of 10.55% from H1 2018, but a 19.43% increase from H2 2018.

In H1 2019, 28,131 deals were recorded, marking a 32.69% increase from H1 2018 and a 15.93% rise from H2 2018.