Freshfields has topped the rankings in all but one of the last 10 years.Kirkland and Freshfields Neck-and-Neck in Race to Top Europe M&A Rankings
Freshfields has dominated the European rankings over the last decade, while Kirkland first entered the top 20 in 2017.
December 17, 2019 at 05:29 AM
2 minute read
With just two weeks to go, Kirkland & Ellis and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are neck-and-neck in the race to top Europe's M&A adviser league table for 2019, with the U.S. firm threatening to end Freshfields' five-year run at the top of the table.
In the year to December 16, Kirkland had worked on 149 deals worth a total of $214.4 billion, while Freshfields has advised on 166 worth a combined $214.1 billion, according to data from Mergermarket.
Freshfields has been top of the European leader board by value of deals since 2014, and has only failed to lead the table once since 2009. In contrast, Kirkland first appeared in the top 20 legal advisers for European M&A in 2017, when it placed seventh. Last year, it came in 13th.
Both firms are well ahead of the third-placed firm – Weil, Gotshal & Manges – which had advised on 103 deals worth a total of $174.7 billion.
Kirkland's rise comes as U.S. firms have filled all 10 of the top spots for global M&A deal activity for the year to date. If that is how the year ends, it will be the first time since 2005 that no U.K. firms have appeared in the top 10.
One partner at a U.S. law firm in London said: "The days of the market being dominated by the Magic Circle are over. Life has just moved on."
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