Kirkland, V&E, Shearman, Sidley, Latham Leads CDT Q1-Q3 M&A Dealmaking
Texas corporate lawyers were involved in more than 600 mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures during the first nine months of 2021, according to The Texas Lawbook’s exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker database.
Lawyers for 10 law firms operating in Texas led the dealmaking for the buyers or sellers in more than two-thirds of those transactions, according to CDT data. Of the 638 separate transactions currently listed, 271 (42%) were undisclosed in value.
Kirkland & Ellis tops the CDT chart for law firms leading M&A deals in Texas. Attorneys in the Texas offices of the Chicago-founded firm led 94 transactions between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 with a combined reported deal value of $50.4 billion.
Vinson & Elkins ranks second on the CDT lead lawyer deal count charts with 71 transactions. V&E ranks No. 1 in the CDT deal value at $68.9 billion.
Kirkland and V&E have ranked first and second on the CDT charts since The Texas Lawbook started tracking M&A handled by Texas-based lawyers.
The Lawbook also regularly publishes M&A rankings from Mergermarket. There is a major difference in the numbers reflected by the two databases. Mergermarket tracks deals and advisors based on the headquarters of the buyers, sellers and targets.
By contrast, the Corporate Deal Tracker documents the M&A transactions of lawyers who are based in Texas even if the clients are based outside of Texas or even outside of the U.S. Separately, the CDT also tracks securities offerings and will be publishing the securities offerings master list and rankings in two weeks.
Today, we focus on the law firms in Texas that lead M&A transactions during the first three quarters of 2021. At least four dozen law firms with operations in Texas have submitted their 2021 deals. Next week, we will release the chart for total representation in M&A transactions, which includes those firms which represented third parties such as financial advisors, banks, conflicts committees and so forth.
New to the CDT top 10 is Shearman & Sterling, a New York-based firm that had its lawyers in Texas led 50 transactions during the first three quarters of 2021 with a combined deal value of $67.6 billion.
Sidley Austin ranks fourth on the CDT deal count charts because its Texas lawyers led 48 deals valued a total cost price tag of $28.3 billion.
Latham & Watkins is fifth in the CDT deal count and deal value rankings by leading 40 transactions with a combined value of $33.1 billion.
Also new to the CDT top 10 for deal count is Willkie Farr at No. 6. The New York firm’s Texas lawyers led 38 deals with a total price tag of $4.3 billion.
Ranking seventh in deal count is Houston-based Baker Botts, which led 31 transactions with a combined value of $49.2 billion. Baker Botts is fourth in deal value.
Dallas-based Haynes and Boone is eighth in the CDT deal count rankings for the first three quarters of 2021. The firm’s Texas lawyers led on 22 transactions with a combined value of $93 million. Many of the deals Haynes and Boone submitted were confidential, meaning that they provided the names of the buyers and sellers but the price tag of the transaction was not publicly disclosed.
Gibson Dunn (20 deals valued at $29.7 billion) and Locke Lord (17 deals at $1.34 billion) round out the top 10.
In all, 10 Texas based firms worked their way into the CDT deal count rankings. The others included Bracewell, Akin Gump, Jackson Walker, Porter Hedges, Gray Reed and KRCL.
You can review the CDT M&A master chart by clicking here. If you see that a transaction is missing, please contact Allen Pusey and the CDT data team at cdtroundup@texaslawbook.net.