Two Indian firms in top five Asia M&A advisory ranking

Two Indian firms in top five Asia M&A advisory ranking

AZB & Partners and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) are among the Top 5 Asia M&A Advisory Ranking. AZB & Partners ranked second while CAM stood at the fifth position.

Linklaters and Fangda top Q1 Asia Specific M&A advisory rankings in terms of deal value and deal volume respectively

The second wave of Covid19 pandemic notwithstanding, definite signs about the recovery of deal activities are visible.

The first quarter of the current year has witnessed the fastest growth both in terms of value and volume, compared to the same period of last year when the pandemic had started to spread globally.

M&A activity in the Asia Pacific region has witnessed the fastest start to a year ever since 2015 as deal-making continued to brush aside the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. This has added to the recovery in the resurgence in transactions that had started in the second half of 2020.

According to Mergermarket's 1Q21 Global & Regional M&A Report, the January-March quarter hit $163 billion, recording a 28.7 per cent surge compared to the same period of the previous year. This excludes Japan.

A combination of factors including the accumulation of pending deals from the previous year and the region's impressive economic recovery among others are believed to have contributed to this surge in transactions.

Magic Circle UK firm Linklaters tops the region's advisory rankings by deal value, working on eight deals worth just under $18 billion. Linklaters was on the third spot in the same period in 2020.

Chinese financial services specialist JiaYuan Law Offices occupies second place, jumping from the 44th ranking of the previous year. The Chinese firm worked on two deals worth $16 billion.

With 12 deals worth $14 billion, the US law firm Latham & Watkins was ranked third, up four places from the first quarter of 2020. It was followed by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, which worked on four deals worth $13 billion. The firm was placed on the lowly 75th spot last year.

Indian firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, which occupied the top ranking last year, came down four places to finish in the top five, advising on 16 deals worth $13 billion.

In terms of deal counts, the Chinese firm Fangda Partners topped the chart after working on 27 deals worth $11 billion, lifting it from the 12th spot in the first quarter of 2020.

Indian firm AZB & Partners moved up one place to the second, advising on 24 deals worth $7.5 billion. Incidentally, AZB & Partners had advised on the same number of deals during the same period last year.

South Korean firm Lee & Ko rose 17 places to take the third spot, advising on 20 deals worth just over $5 billion. Asia-focused firm King & Wood Mallesons was fourth, working on 19 deals worth roughly $7 billion, while Cyril Amarchand's 16 deals saw it slip from first last year to the fifth.