GlobalData : Latham & Watkins and Vinson & Elkins were top M&A legal advisers by value and volume in oil & gas sector for H1 2021, finds GlobalData

26 Jul 2021
Latham & Watkins and Vinson & Elkins were top M&A legal advisers by value and volume in oil & gas sector for H1 2021, finds GlobalData Posted in Business Fundamentals

Latham & Watkins and Vinson & Elkins were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the oil & gas sector for H1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Latham & Watkins advised on 15 deals worth US$32.2bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Vinson & Elkins led in volume terms having advised on 22 deals worth US$24.5bn. A total of 802 M&A deals were announced in the sector during H1 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 H1 2021', deal value for the sector increased by 129.9% from US$67bn in H1 2020 to US$154bn in H1 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: 'While Vinson & Elkins was the only firm that was able to advise on more than 20 deals during H1 2021, Latham & Watkins took the lead in value terms as it surpassed US$30bn.

'Interestingly, both firms also managed to advise on some of the big-ticket deals that were announced during H1 2021. Vinson & Elkins LLP advised on five billion-dollar deals (valued more than or equal to US$1bn), while Latham & Watkins advised on six such deals.'

White & Case occupied the second position in terms of value with 12 deals worth US$29.7bn, followed by Burnet Duckworth & Palmer with eight deals worth US$27.3bn, Baker Botts with 12 deals worth US$25.7bn and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher with ten deals worth US$24.6bn.

Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of volume with 19 deals worth US$17.6bn, followed by Latham & Watkins, White & Case and Baker Botts.