M&A Slows in Southern States

© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.By Mark Curriden Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook (June 9) – When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, southern-based law firms are losing their draw. Mergermarket Media reports that law firms based in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles dominated the M&A market in the 15 southern states, including Texas, during the first half of 2013. Only five southern law firms – Vinson & Elkins, Akin Gump, Andrews Kurth, Greenberg Traurig and Norton Rose Fulbright – ranked in the top 15 law firms advising southern-based businesses involved in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures during the first six months of this year. The data also shows that M&A in the 15 southern states, from Virginia to Florida to Texas, slowed significantly from January to June. Nearly every law firm in the 15 saw their deal counts decline during the first two quarters of 2013. Akin Gump and Andrews & Kurth were the exceptions, according to mergermarket, an independent global M&A research firm affiliated with the Financial Times. While total number of transactions declined from H1 2012 to H1 2013, the value of those deals increased. Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis led the region with 39 deals,…