Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Latham & Watkins and Linklaters top the 2023 M&A and financial practice rankings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Law firms, like banks and other advisors, suffered a downturn in M&A deals last year due to rising interest rates and concerns about inflation.
Banks have been forced to cut thousands of jobs and cut bonuses. Bank fees associated with transactions fell 16% last year, following a 42% decline the year before, according to data provider Dealogic.
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However, despite the gloom, EMEA saw some big deals last year, providing great roles for lawyers at major law firms in the UK, US and Europe.
Data provider MergerLinks has crunched the numbers and revealed the top 10 M&A and finance lawyers in EMEA for 2023.
Michael Hilton, MENA regional managing partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, topped the emea firm rankings with four deals totaling £30.5bn last year.
Last year, Hilton acted alongside private equity firm EQT on the acquisition of animal health company Decra Pharmaceuticals by Luximba, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, for a total value of around £4.5bn.
While the Middle East saw strong M&A activity last year, deals in the UK were slow.
Stephen Fox, corporate partner at Clifford Chance, which ranked sixth in Mergerlinks' EMEA M&A rankings, said he expected the number of deals to increase in 2024.
“We are more optimistic about deal flow in 2024,” he said. FN.
“We have seen a significant increase in private equity interests in listed companies and available debt is higher than last year,” he said.
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Mr. Fox advised on several large M&A transactions last year. He led the UK side of his $20 billion deal for his packaging solutions company WestRock and his Smurfit Kappa.
He also advised on Harbor Energy's acquisition of Wintershall Deer's oil and gas assets in a deal valued at $11.2 billion.
Jayanti Sadanandan, a partner at Latham & Watkins, said buyout firms became more reliant on private credit providers last year, in part because it was difficult to get bank financing for deals.
“Private credit markets have been strengthened to fill the gap in the syndicated market, providing liquidity and funding certainty at a time of significant market uncertainty,” he said.
Sadanandan said bank lending could recover strongly this year as interest rates fall.
“The syndicate market will once again become an attractive option if sponsors and borrowers can obtain better pricing and terms in the syndicate market, but the private credit market will continue to be important in leveraged finance,” he said. He will continue to play his role.”
Last year, Skadden Alps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Latham on the credit financing of Blackstone and Permira's acquisition of online classified advertising business Adevinta.
Pete Coulton, head of European banking at Skadden, said: FN He said he expects M&A activity to increase in 2024.
“As macroeconomic conditions stabilize further, we expect M&A and LBO activity to increase sharply. “Some of it was funding bolt-on acquisitions and re-pricing,” he said.
Linklaters corporate partner Robert Cleaver said 2024 had started brightly, but warned that macroeconomic and political events could impact trading later in the year.
“Markets are showing resilience and are currently experiencing increased levels of activity. Some trading has been affected by global turmoil, and as a result of a number of general elections around the world, this year's trading Quantities may be affected.”
Top Corporate Lawyers in EMEA
1. Michael Hilton, Partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Trading volume: 4
Value: £30.54 billion
2. Thomas Meurer, Partner at Henggeler Müller
Trading volume: 3
Value: £22.946 billion
3. Filippo Moduro, Chiomenti's partner
Trading volume: 7
Value: £21.46 billion
4. Francesco Gianni, Partner, Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners
Trading volume: 6
Value: £18.78 billion
5. Pierre-Yves Chabert and partner Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Trading volume: 5
Value: £18.48 billion
6. Steven Fox, Clifford Chance Partner
Trading volume: 2
Value: £17.76 billion
7. Robert Cleaver, Partner at Linklaters
Trading volume: 2
Value: £16.78 billion
8. Francesco Gatti, partner of Gianni Pavesi Bianchi Ludovic
Trading volume: 1
Value: £16.74 billion
9. Roland Turnill, Partner, Slaughter & May
Trading volume: 2
Value: £16.4bn
10. Derek Tong, Partner at Linklaters
Trading volume: 4
Value: £15.36 billion
EMEA's top fundraising lawyer
1. Edward Fife, Partner, Slaughter & May
Trading volume: 4
Value: £28.36 billion
2. Julian Davies, Linklaters Partner
Trading volume: 3
Value: £18.45bn
3. Jay Sadanandan, Partner at Latham & Watkins
Trading volume: 4
Value: £11.47 billion
4. Pete Coulton, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Partner
Trading volume: 7
Value: £11.32 billion
5. Richard Day, Clifford Chance Partner
Transaction value: 5
Trading volume: £10.5bn
6. Thijs Flokstra, partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Trading volume: 3
Value: £10.5bn
7. Simon Williams, Clifford Chance's partner
Transaction value: 1
Deal value: £8.81 billion
8. Daniela Boening, Partner at Henggeler Müller
Trading volume: 5
Transaction value: £7.3bn
9. Aled Battey, Partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Trading volume: 4
Deal value: £5.25 billion
10. Jonathan Weinberg, White & Case Partner
Trading volume: 5
Transaction value: £4.156 billion
To contact the author of this article with feedback or news, email Edin Imsirovic
