Deal activity in the Asia-Pacific region in the first three quarters of 2019 has been the slowest in years.

There were 10,500 mergers and acquisitions announced across Asia-Pacific in the first nine months of this year, worth a combined $526.4 billion – a 21% drop in value compared to the same period last year and the lowest combined deal value in five years, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.

This is in line with a broader slowdown globally, according to Refinitiv; between January and September this year, there were 34,928 M&A deals worldwide, with a combined value of $2.8 trillion, down 10% year on year.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer tops Refinitiv's Asia-Pacific M&A league table for the first three quarters of this year. The Magic Circle firm has advised on 24 deals worth a combined $57.4 billion. Meanwhile, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett tops Bloomberg's league table and King & Wood Mallesons is ranked first by Mergermarket; both tables exclude Japan. League table rankings differ due to different methodologies.

Asia Pacific M&A legal adviser league tables:

Herbert Smith Freehills is the only firm ranked among the top five M&A advisers by all three organisations. The Anglo-Australian firm's ranking is boosted by several large deals in Australia; the firm has represented the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on a $1.6 billion divestment of its Australian life insurance business to Hong Kong-based AIA Group, and on a $2.8 billion sale of its global asset management business to Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which was completed in August.

Both Australian deals are part of a wave of M&A as a result of sweeping changes to the country's financial services industry. The changes are being made after an unprecedented government inquiry into misconduct in Australia's banking and financial services sector, which ended earlier this year with 76 recommended changes for tougher regulations and improved governance. Lawyers in Australia told The Asian Lawyer there will be significant restructuring and consolidation in the sector due to the changes.

Several Australian firms moved up the rankings because of the surge in deals. Corrs Chambers Westgarth jumped to seventh from 39th in Bloomberg's ranking. The Australian firm recently advised a consortium on a $3.7 billion rail project in Brisbane. Australia has been investing in road and rail to accommodate growing city populations, with about $195 billion worth of projects already under construction or committed and a further $289 billion worth of projects under consideration, according to Deloitte. Fellow Australian firms Gilbert + Tobin and Johnson Winter & Slattery moved up to 15th and 23rd, respectively, in Refinitiv's ranking, from 73rd and 137th. However, not all the Australian firms moved up, as Allens dropped in all three rankings.

Slaughter and May is ranked third on Refinitiv's list, up from 46 last year. The jump is largely due to the Magic Circle firm's representation of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. on a $39 billion offer to acquire the London Stock Exchange Group. Bloomberg and Mergermarket did not include that proposal in their league table data. On October 8, the Hong Kong stock exchange dropped its bid for the London stock exchange.

In Japan, Nishimura & Asahi, the largest domestic law firm, is the top M&A legal adviser according to all three organisations. The firm advised on Nippon Paint Holdings Co. Ltd.'s $2.7 billion acquisition of Australia Exchange-listed paint maker DuluxGroup Ltd. – one of the largest deals in Japan – which closed in August. Total M&A activity in Japan fell 7% to $60.2 billion year on year, Refinitiv data show.

Japan M&A legal adviser league tables: