Latin America: Skadden Top M&A Advisor

Despite M&A drop last year, many law firms boosted their business.

BY LBC STAFF

US-based Skadden Arps captured the top spot among legal advisors on Latin America’s mergers and acquisitions, according to Thomson Reuters.

The law firm jumped from seventh place last year and 17 in 2009.

And while the Latin American M&A market fell, Skadden actually managed to boost its market share by 3.5 percent. The 17 deals it advised on had a total value of $20.4 billion.

US-based Cleary Gottlieb, the previous number one, did not make the ranking of the top 25 legal advisors of Latin American M&As last year, Thomson Reuters data shows.

Meanwhile, Brazil-based Pinheiro Neto jumped from sixth to second place.  The 50 M&A deals it it advised on reached a value of $19.2 billion.

The ranking of the top ten legal advisors also included four other Brazilian law firms.  

Law firms that increased their Latin American M&A market share last year include Baker & McKenzie, Haynes & Boone, Latham Watkins and Sherman & Sterling.

Shearman & Sterling saw the biggest jump in market share and ended up as the fifth-largest legal advisor, a dramatic increase from 27^th place in 2010.

Full list of the top 25 legal advisors

 
SEE ALSO
Latin America: M&As Decline
Latin America's Top 100 M&A's (2011)
Top Target Countries and Acquirors