Latham & Watkins and Vinson & Elkins were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the oil & gas sector for Q1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Latham & Watkins advised on six deals worth US$14.6bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Vinson & Elkins led in the volume terms having advised on 11 deals worth US$12.8bn. A total of 352 M&A deals were announced in the sector during Q1 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Oil & Gas M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables Q1 2021’, deal value for the sector increased by 66.7% from US$39bn in Q1 2020 to US$65bn in Q1 2021.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Latham & Watkins and Vinson & Elkins were among the only five advisors that managed to surpass the US$10bn mark, while Vinson & Elkins was the only firm to advise on more than 10 deals.
“Both these firms also advised on some of the high-value transactions but Vinson & Elkins LLP advised on two billion-dollar deals while Latham & Watkins managed to advise on three billion-dollar deals, which also helped it occupy the top position by value.”
Baker Botts occupied the second position in terms of value with six deals worth US$14bn followed by Burnet Duckworth & Palmer with three deals worth US$13.2bn. Vinson & Elkins occupied the fourth position by value.
Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position by volume with eight deals worth US$1.4bn. Latham & Watkins occupied the third position by volume followed by Baker Botts.
