Deal Watch is The American Lawyer's (mostly) weekly roundup of big-ticket and transformative deals and the law firms that guide them. Have a transaction you'd like us to consider? Email us at [email protected].

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz easily led the field in global mergers and acquisitions deal value in 2019, according to year-end reports from global financial data companies Refinitiv and Mergermarket.

Powered by just 73 deals totaling $644 billion, the firm outpaced second place Sullivan & Cromwell by nearly $100 billion, according to Refinitiv's accounting,

Rounding out the top five were Davis Polk & Wardwell ($512 billion in deal value, according to Refinitiv), Kirkland & Ellis ($506 billion) and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton ($445 billion).

Mergermarket reported slightly different figures but named the same top five law firms, though with Kirkland behind Davis Polk in deal value.

Kirkland was the only newcomer to the top five in deal value when compared with 2018. The Chicago-founded giant moved from 12th in 2018 to 4th in 2019, knocking Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 5th to 6th, according to Refinitiv. Wachtell's market share of total deal value topped the list at 16.6%, followed by Sullivan & Cromwell at 14.1%, Davis Polk at 13.2%, Kirkland with 13.1% and Cleary at 11.5%.

Skadden (11.3%), Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (10.8%) and White & Case (10%) were the only other firms to hit double digits for market share.

In terms of deal volume, Kirkland & Ellis led the way, with 692 deals announced for 2019—nearly 10 times as many as Wachtell. Kirkland was followed by DLA Piper (647), Goodwin Procter (500), Latham & Watkins (491) and Jones Day (459), according to Refinitiv.

Overall, the total global deal value for the year was $3.9 trillion, down 3% from 2018 but still the fourth largest year on record, Refinitiv found. It was also the sixth consecutive year in which total global deal value topped $3 trillion.

Cross-border deals were down 25% in 2019, totaling $1.9 trillion in activity, according to Refinitiv. It was the slowest year for cross-border deals since 2013.

The U.S. accounted for 20% of cross-border acquirers and 25% of those targeted for acquisition.

According to Mergermarket, the top firms for domestic U.S. deal value were Wachtell ($590 billion), Sullivan & Cromwell ($484 billion), Kirkland ($479 billion), Davis Polk ($457 billion) and Simpson Thacher ($383 billion).

The European market, in a down year, saw Kirkland take over from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as the deal value leader, according to Mergermarket. This is the first time that Freshfields has not lead the European market since 2014.

Private equity backed deals accounted for 13% of all M&A activity in 2019, which is a 5% increase from the previous year. The total number of PE deals, though, was down 1% overall.

Some other findings from the reports:

• Deals greater than $10 billion accounted for 31% of all M&A activity in 2019, according to Refinitiv.
• European M&A deals were down 25% year over year, while deals in Japan were up 40%, per Refinitiv.
• Health care deals accounted for $533 billion in 2019, up 26% from 2018 and a new high water mark for the sector, according to Refinitiv.
• According to Mergermarket, the average deal was worth $389 million, the highest amount since 2015.
• According to Mergermarket, the U.S. was home to 47.2% of all M&A activity, its highest percentage since 2001.

Meanwhile, some are predicting a relatively grim year ahead for global M&A.

A study by Baker McKenzie and Oxford Economics predicts a 25% drop in global M&A deal value between 2019 and 2020. The study—which sees the U.S. as a potential bright spot—cites global economic uncertainty and the looming threat of a recession as primary drivers behind the predicted decline.

In other deal news:

New York Life/Cigna

New York Life, the largest mutual life insurer in the U.S., has agreed to purchase the group life and disability insurance business of global health company Cigna for $6.3 billion. New York Life, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, will add millions of customers to its profile with the acquisition. Cigna, which maintains sales in 30 countries and has over 165 million customers worldwide, expects the transaction to be relatively benign when it comes to affecting its share price. 

Debevoise & Plimpton for New York Life/Sidley Austin; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for Cigna

LogMeln/Francisco Partners

Boston-based cloud connectivity company LogMeIn has agreed to be purchased by a group led by tech-focused PE firm Francisco Partners for $4.3 billion. Logmeln, which lists itself as a "top 10 public SaaS" company, has offices in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Francisco Partners has raised over $15 billion in capital and invested that money in over 270 companies. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2020 pending.

Paul Hastings, Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher for Francisco Partners/Latham & Watkins for LogMeln

WPX Energy/Felix Energy

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based WPX Energy has agreed to purchase Delaware Basin operator Felix Energy for $2.5 billion, including $900 million in cash and $1.6 billion in WPX stock. Felix has roughly 1,500 undeveloped sites in the Delaware Basin and is expected to generate 60 barrels of oil equivalent per day. WPX's board unanimously approved the transaction, which is slated to close in the second quarter of 2020. 

Weil, Gotshal & Manges for WPX Energy/Vinson & Elkins for Felix Energy

Xperi/TiVo

San Jose-based Xperi Corp. and TiVo Corp. have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction that creates a company with roughly $3 billion in enterprise value. Xperi, which licenses technology, and TiVo, a pioneer in the digital recorder industry, will now be one of the largest IP licensing platforms in the world. Xperi stockholders will own 46.5% of the new entity while TiVo shareholders will own 53.5%. 

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for Xperi Corp./Cooley for TiVo Corp.

Eli Lilly/Dermira

Global health care company Eli Lilly has agreed to purchase Menlo Park-based biopharmaceutical company Dermira for $1.1 billion. The cost breaks down to $18.75 per Dermira share. Dermira focuses on the treatment of chronic skin conditions, and Eli Lilly is counting on the acquisition to bolster its immunology pipeline with the addition of lebrikizumab, a "monoclonal antibody designed to bind IL-13 with high affinity that is being evaluated in a Phase 3 clinical development program for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adolescent and adult patients."

Weil, Gotshal & Manges for Eli Lilly/Fenwick & West for Dermira

Leidos Holdings/Dynetics

Reston, Virginia-based Leidos Holdings has agreed to purchase Huntsvillve, Alabama-based government contractor Dynetics Inc for $1.65 billion. Dynetics provides engineering, IT and cybersecurity solutions for the U.S. government and will join a company in Leidos that is already a major player in the government contracting world. Leidos is Fortune 500 company with revenue north of $10 billion and 34,000 employees worldwide. 

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for Leidos Holdings/King & Spalding for Dynetics

Gateway Casinos and Entertainment/Leisure Acquisition Corp.

Canadian entertainment company Gateway Casinos and Entertainment and New York-based Leisure Acquisition Corp. have agreed to a merger that will see Gateway become a wholly owned subsidiary of Leisure. The deal is valued at $1.1 billion. Gateway, which operates casinos across British Columbia and Ontario, has 25 different destinations in Canada that house over 12,000 slot machines, 360 gaming table and 72 food and beverage outlets. 

Latham & Watkins and Bennett Jones for Gateway Casinos and Entertainment/Proskauer Rose and Miller Thomson for Leisure Acquisition Corp.

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