Clifford Chance beat the likes of Kirkland & Ellis and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to secure the most European M&A mandates from some of the biggest private equity firms last year.

The firm won numerous European M&A mandates from the likes of buyout giants Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners in the last 12 months, according to analysis of data compiled by Mergermarket.

Clifford Chance advised on four Blackstone deals with a combined deal value of €12.9 billion — the most mandates of its peer group — as well as another three mandates for CVC worth €675 million, which also put it ahead of its rivals.

The Magic Circle firm's deals were mostly completed out of the firm's Continental European offices. For Blackstone, it advised on the sale of a majority stake in Swedish housing company Hembla for €3.3 billion, and on the €1.6 billion acquisition of Netherlands-headquartered materials distribution company, CRH Europe Distribution.

Clifford Chance, Kirkland, Freshfields and Simpson Thacher were among a handful of elite law firms that hold relationships with private equity firms with the most unspent capital at the start of 2020.

The Mergermarket data showed Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett each picked up three roles for Blackstone in Europe, with Kirkland's total deal value across those three M&A deals just behind that of CC at €11.2 billion.

Kirkland advised Blackstone on its two of its most valuable European transactions of the past year, both of which were predominantly U.K. deals. These included Blackstone's acquisition U.K. student housing company iQ for £4.7 billion, and the £6 billion public-to-private sale of Merlin Entertainments to a consortium that included the private equity giant.

Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer took on three mandates for CVC in the past year worth €659 million, marginally less than CC's total.

Kirkland was the most frequent adviser to other, slightly less prolific, buyout firms over the period, including EQT and Advent, for which Weil Gotshal & Manges also featured highly.

Freshfields and Latham & Watkins proved the most popular with Permira.

Dealmaking in the U.K. plummeted by 99% in April as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy became clear. However, with plenty of unspent capital available to the sector private equity lawyers across the market saying that they expect buyouts to pick up again in Q3 or Q4 of this year.

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