Top Legal Advisors in M&ATop Legal Advisors in M&A In the first half of 2024, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom led major law firms as the top legal advisor on mergers and acquisitions. This is attributed to significant deals in the energy and healthcare sectors. Skadden advised on transactions worth $212.5 billion, followed by Latham & Watkins with $192.7 billion and Kirkland & Ellis with $172.8 billion. Allison Schneirov, M&A partner and global head of Skadden’s Transactions Practice, attributed the momentum in the M&A market to optimism among lawyers and a surge in carve-out or spin-off transactions. Despite a positive outlook, deal volumes were still below the 10-year average by midyear. Large Transactions Several law firms strengthened their positions by handling large deals over $10 billion. * Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz assisted ConocoPhillips in a $17 billion deal with Marathon Oil Corp. * Wachtell advised Capital One Financial Corp. on its $35 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services. * Wachtell, Skadden, Paul Weiss, and Vinson & Elkins assisted with Diamondback Energy Inc.’s $26 billion purchase of Endeavor Energy Resources LP. * Skadden, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Goodwin Procter advised on Synopsys’ $35 billion deal to acquire Ansys. Energy and Healthcare Energy and healthcare deals were prominent, driven by the need for infrastructure and the acquisition of innovative companies, respectively. Private Equity’s Challenges Rising interest rates have posed challenges for private equity clients, who are opting for minority deals and structured investments over complete acquisitions. Outlook Despite the interest rate hurdle, lawyers remain optimistic about the M&A market, expecting activity to continue across various sectors.
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is the top legal advisor on mergers and acquisitions among major law firms in the first half of this year, as deals in the energy and healthcare sectors surged.
Skadden lawyers advised on deals worth $212.5 billion, according to Bloomberg data. Latham & Watkins followed with transactions worth nearly $192.7 billion. Kirkland & Ellis, which topped last year’s rankings, came in third with $172.8 billion, the data show.
“There is momentum in the M&A market right now and our teams are busy,” Allison Schneirov, M&A partner and global head of Skadden’s Transactions Practice, said in an email. “We’ve also seen a significant number of companies consider and pursue carve-out or spin-off transactions, which provide creative ways to unlock value.”
The results reflect optimism among lawyers that M&A work is turning a corner to sustained highs after a rut caused by inflation, tight credit and rising interest rates. Global M&A deal volume rose nearly 13% to more than $1 trillion in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period last year.
“The deals market and the pipeline, from my perspective, are stronger than they’ve been in a few years,” said David Klein, a corporate partner at Kirkland.
Still, deal volumes were more than $300 billion below the 10-year average by midyear, Bloomberg News reported June 28, citing data from Bloomberg.
Several large law firms bolstered their positions by overseeing deals of more than $10 billion. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, ranked fourth by Bloomberg, helped ConocoPhillips on a $17 billion all-stock deal with Marathon Oil Corp. that was announced in May. Kirkland & Ellis advised Marathon.
Wachtell also served as legal counsel to Capital One Financial Corp. on the company’s plan to buy Discover Financial Services in a $35 billion all-stock deal announced in February. Sullivan & Cromwell, which ranked No. 10, served as legal counsel to Discover.
Also in February, four firms — Wachtell, Skadden, Paul Weiss and Vinson & Elkins — assisted with Diamondback Energy Inc.’s $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor Energy Resources LP.
Three firms, Skadden, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Goodwin Procter, were working on a $35 billion deal with software company Synopsys to buy Ansys. The agreement was announced in January.
Energy, Health
Large transactions helped energy, which makes up a small portion of the S&P 500, outpace other sectors. But energy deals face both antitrust and environmental regulatory hurdles, said Vincent Piazza, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“There’s a certain challenge here, because the desire to build infrastructure is met with significant resistance to building that infrastructure, whether it’s civil pressure or regulatory pressure,” Piazza said. It’s possible that oversight could lessen with a different administration in the White House, he added.
Healthcare also topped the deal size charts, including Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of Shockwave Medical Inc. for about $13.1 billion, which closed in May.
Still, the positive trend in mergers and acquisitions transcends any specific sector, said Paul Kukish, chairman of Latham’s private equity and investment funds group.
“The level of activity that we’re seeing is becoming a little bit more industry agnostic,” Kukish said. “We’re well positioned across the spectrum.”
High scores
Still, with rising interest rates, many private equity clients are choosing to make minority deals and structured investments rather than complete corporate acquisitions, Kukish said.
“Interest rates have been a limiting factor,” he said, “especially in light of how quickly interest rates have changed.”
Portfolio companies that were bought when interest rates were lower are now hard to sell with higher rates, said Damien Zoubek, partner and co-head of US corporate and M&A at Freshfields. “That just creates a gap in valuations,” he said.
Private equity fundraising has also been slow, although some companies have been able to buck this trend thanks to their successful track records, says Kirkland’s Klein.
“You have to return capital to your investor base to raise the next fund,” he said. “Those who have done that effectively have done very well in this market.”
