Fenwick & West and Kirkland & Ellis have emerged as the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector for the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, according to the latest league table from GlobalData, a data and analytics provider.
GlobalData’s analysis of its deals database showed that Fenwick & West ranked first by deal value, advising on of M&A transactions worth $35.6bn.
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Kirkland & Ellis topped in terms of deal volume, advising on a total of 31 deals.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser by volume in Q1 2024 and managed to retain its leadership position by this metric in Q1 2025 as well, despite a year-on-year decline in the total number of deals advised by it. Apart from leading by volume, Kirkland & Ellis also held the third position by value in Q1 2025.
“Meanwhile, Fenwick & West experienced a significant improvement in its ranking by value, primarily driven by its involvement in a $32bn deal for the acquisition of Wiz by Google.
“This single deal raised the total value of deals advised by it multifold during Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. Resultantly, Fenwick & West went ahead from occupying the 49th position by value in Q1 2024 to top the chart by this metric in Q1 2025.”
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By GlobalDataCravath Swaine & Moore secured the second position by deal value, advising on $33.3bn worth of transactions, followed by Kirkland & Ellis at $26.1bn, Davis Polk & Wardwell at $23.6bn, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $20.6bn in deal value.
In terms of deal volume, Latham & Watkins ranked second with 22 deals, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and DLA Piper each advised on 15 deals.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
