Kirkland & Ellis was the top M&A legal adviser in the consumer sector during the first nine months of 2024 by both value and volume, analysis of deal data suggests.
According to GlobalData, Just Food’s parent, Kirkland & Ellis topped the charts for the value of deals and volume of transactions.
An analysis of the data and analytics group’s Deals Database revealed that Kirkland & Ellis advised on 26 deals, which cumulatively were valued at $39.8bn.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom followed closely in terms of deal value, having advised on transactions worth $39.2bn.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher was not far behind, with deals amounting to $38.9bn.
Cravath Swaine & Moore and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett also made it to the top five, advising on deals worth $37.9bn and $36bn respectively.
When deal volumes were measured, Kirkland & Ellis worked on 26 transactions. "During Q1 to Q3 2024, Kirkland & Ellis advised on three billion-dollar deals, which included the $35.9bn mega deal between Mars and Kellanova," GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said.
Latham & Watkins took second place, participating in 12 deals.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Baker McKenzie, and Jones Day were all tied for the third position, each firm advising on ten deals.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory company websites and other reliable sources available in the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness of the data, the company also seeks deal submissions from leading advisers.
