Here are the top Australasian M&A legal advisers for 1Q2018

Dealmakers made fewer but larger deals in the first quarter of 2018, boosting M&A in Australia and New Zealand more than 83% compared to the first quarter of last year.

There were 396 deals valued at US$36.23bn announced in 1Q2018, according to the latest league tables from Bloomberg. In the comparable quarter last year, there were 402 deals valued at US$19.75bn.

Baker McKenzie made a massive jump in the first quarter to lead all other legal advisers in M&A deals with US$11.03bn worth of deals under its belt. Next was DLA Piper, which was not even in the top 20 advisers in terms of deal value in 1Q2017, with US$10.37bn. Danish law firm Kromann Reumert secured the third spot with US$10.05bn of deals.

Another returnee to the top 20 by deal value is King & Wood Mallesons with US$7.79bn. The firm is followed by Herbert Smith Freehills, which completes the top five with US$6.39bn worth of deals.

In terms of deal count, Herbert Smith Freehills leads with 24 deals, followed by Allens with 16, King & Wood Mallesons with 15, Gilbert + Tobin with 11, and MinterEllison with 10 deals.

Below are the top legal advisers for announced Australia and New Zealand M&A ranked by deal value and deal count for the first quarters of 2018 and 2017.

Top 20 legal advisers - 1Q2018 by deal value

1. Baker McKenzie – US$11.03bn
2. DLA Piper – US$10.37bn
3. Kromann Reumert – US$10.05bn
4. King & Wood Mallesons – US$7.79bn
5. Herbert Smith Freehills – US$6.39bn
6. Allens – US$5.84bn
7. Ashurst – US$1.48
8. Norton Rose Fulbright – US$1.46bn
9. Gilbert + Tobin – US$1.34bn
10. Clayton Utz – US$1.31bn
11. Watson Mangioni – US$1.17bn
12. Davis Polk & Wardwell – US$1.17bn
13. Blake Cassels & Graydon – US$1.16
14. Latham & Watkins – US$1.02bn
15. Linklaters – US$999m
16. Morrison & Foerster – US$816m
17. Cravath Swaine & Moore – US$816m
18. Pacific Equity Partners – US$520m
19. Corrs Chambers Westgarth – US$450m
20. MinterEllison – US$398m

Top 20 legal advisers - 1Q2018 by deal count

1. Herbert Smith Freehills – 24
2. Allens – 16
3. King & Wood Mallesons – 15
4. Gilbert + Tobin – 11
5. MinterEllison – 10
6. Ashurst – 7
7. Baker McKenzie – 6
8. Corrs Chambers Westgarth – 6
9. Jones Day – 6
10. Norton Rose Fulbright – 4
11. Blake Cassels & Graydon – 4
12. Bell Gully – 4
13. HWL Ebsworth – 4
14. Goodwin Procter – 3
15. DLA Piper – 2
16. Clayton Utz – 2
17. Linklaters – 2
18. Kirkland & Ellis – 2
19. Allen & Overy – 2
20. K&L Gates – 2

Top 20 legal advisers - 1Q2017 by deal value

1. Herbert Smith Freehills – US$7.61bn
2. Allens – US$3.17bn
3. Allen & Overy – US$08bn
4. Gilbert + Tobin – US$3.06bn
5. Baker McKenzie  – US$2.73bn
6. Linklaters – US$2.6bn
7. Clifford Chance – US$2.44bn
8. Ashurst  – US$1.7bn
9. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – US$1.58bn
10. MinterEllison – US$832m
11. Bell Gully – US$596m
12. HWL Ebsworth            – US$458m
13. Corrs Chambers Westgarth – US$453m
14. Kirkland & Ellis – US$445m
15. Goodwin Procter – US$425m
16. Allion Legal – US$253m
17. Chapman Tripp – US$234m
18. Sullivan & Cromwell – US$217m
19. Bae Kim & Lee – US$189m
20. Jones Day – US$124m

1. MinterEllison – 17
2. Herbert Smith Freehills – 14
3. Gilbert + Tobin – 14
4. HWL Ebsworth – 10
5. Corrs Chambers Westgarth – 9
6. Baker McKenzie – 8
7. Allens – 6
8. Clifford Chance – 5
9. Chapman Tripp – 5
10. Bell Gully – 4
11. Jones Day – 4
12. Norton Rose Fulbright – 4
13. Allen & Overy – 3
14. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – 3
15. DLA Piper – 3
16. Linklaters – 2
17. Ashurst – 2
18. Kirkland & Ellis – 2
19. Goodwin Procter – 1
20. Allion Legal – 1