M&A booms on the back of fewer but larger deals
Dealmakers made fewer but larger deals in the first quarter of 2018, boosting M&A in Australia and New Zealand more than 83% compared to the first quarter of last year.
There were 396 deals valued at US$36.23bn announced in 1Q2018, according to the latest league tables from Bloomberg. In the comparable quarter last year, there were 402 deals valued at US$19.75bn.
Baker McKenzie made a massive jump in the first quarter to lead all other legal advisers in M&A deals with US$11.03bn worth of deals under its belt. Next was DLA Piper, which was not even in the top 20 advisers in terms of deal value in 1Q2017, with US$10.37bn. Danish law firm Kromann Reumert secured the third spot with US$10.05bn of deals.
Another returnee to the top 20 by deal value is King & Wood Mallesons with US$7.79bn. The firm is followed by Herbert Smith Freehills, which completes the top five with US$6.39bn worth of deals.
In terms of deal count, Herbert Smith Freehills leads with 24 deals, followed by Allens with 16, King & Wood Mallesons with 15, Gilbert + Tobin with 11, and MinterEllison with 10 deals.
Below are the top legal advisers for announced Australia and New Zealand M&A ranked by deal value and deal count for the first quarters of 2018 and 2017.
Top 20 legal advisers - 1Q2018 by deal value
Top 20 legal advisers - 1Q2018 by deal count
Top 20 legal advisers - 1Q2017 by deal value