A&O Shearman and CMS top Europe M&A legal advisory rankings for Q1-Q3 2025

A&O Shearman and CMS have emerged as the top legal advisers in terms of deal value and deal volume, respectively, during the first three quarters of 2025 in the landscape of European mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

This ranking is based on data from GlobalData, a prominent data and analytics firm.

GlobalData's financial deals database revealed that A&O Shearman secured the top spot for deal value, advising on transactions totalling $71.7bn.

On the other hand, CMS was at the forefront in terms of deal volume, having advised on 185 deals.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “CMS was the top adviser by volume during Q1-Q3 2024 and managed to retain its leadership position during Q1-Q3 2025. CMS, not only led by volume, but also outpaced its peers by a significant margin. In fact, it was the only firm with triple-digit deal volume during Q1-Q3 2025.

“The involvement in big-ticket deals placed A&O Shearman way ahead of its peers in terms of value during Q1-Q3 2025. It advised on 16 billion-dollar deals during Q1-Q3 2025 that also included one mega deal valued more than $10 billion. Apart from leading by value, the firm also occupied the third position by volume during Q1-Q3 2025.”

The second place for deal volume was claimed by White & Case, which advised on 99 deals.

White & Case was followed by A&O Shearman with 95 deals, Cuatrecasas with 76 deals and Baker McKenzie with 68 deals.

In the realm of deal value, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom took the second spot, advising on deals worth $49.3bn.

It was followed by Latham & Watkins with $37.8bn, White & Case with $37.2bn, and Kirkland & Ellis with $29.1bn.

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.

"A&O Shearman and CMS top Europe M&A legal advisory rankings for Q1-Q3 2025" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.

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