The legal elite of Iberia: Top M&A advisors for 2024
The latest Mergermarket EMEA Advisory Rankings highlight the law firms that dominated the mergers and acquisitions market in Spain and Portugal during 2024. A year of bold moves and record-breaking transactions has reshaped the competitive landscape, with several firms strengthening their hold on the market and others making surprising advances.
Spain
In Spain, Garrigues claimed the crown for deal value, advising on transactions worth $38.10 billion across 200 deals, a remarkable 203.3% increase from the $12.56 billion recorded in 2023. Second place went to Uría Menéndez, which handled $35.68 billion from 157 deals, marking a 129.8% growth. Clifford Chance took third with $20.12 billion from 31 deals, reflecting a 39.9% rise. KPMG Abogados secured fourth place with $18.41 billion from 62 deals, a 40.6% increase, while Linklaters rounded out the top five with $15.24 billion from 39 deals, growing by 9.6%.
A&O Shearman ranked sixth, with $14.90 billion from 38 deals, despite a 6.0% decline. Seventh place went to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which handled $14.17 billion across 13 deals, a staggering 285.4% growth from 2023. Cravath, Swaine & Moore made a dramatic debut in eighth, advising on a single transaction worth $12.17 billion, an incredible 1,928.7% increase. Latham & Watkins followed in ninth, managing $12.01 billion from 29 deals, up 44.3%, while PwC Legal completed the top ten with $10.56 billion from 108 transactions, despite a 37.7% drop in deal value compared to $16.95 billion in 2023.
Deloitte Legal ranked eleventh, advising on $10.02 billion from 72 deals, a 17.5% rise. Twelfth place went to Pérez-Llorca, with $8.97 billion from 69 transactions, a 36.4% decrease from the previous year. Gianni & Origoni entered the rankings in thirteenth with $8.02 billion from 6 deals. Cuatrecasas fell to fourteenth in deal value, advising on $6.05 billion from 215 transactions, a 63.8% decrease. White & Case ranked fifteenth, managing $5.03 billion from 11 transactions, down 13.8% from 2023. Baker & McKenzie followed in sixteenth with $4.49 billion from 45 deals, a 55.7% decline. Ropes & Gray achieved seventeenth with $4.29 billion from 3 transactions, a 1,260.6% increase. In joint eighteenth place, Baker Botts, O’Melveny & Myers, and Walder Wyss each handled single deals worth $3.99 billion, entering the rankings for the first time.
By transaction count, Cuatrecasas dominated with 215 transactions, 13 more than in 2023, followed by Garrigues with 200 deals, an increase of 5. Uría Menéndez climbed to third with 157 transactions, up 41 deals year-on-year. PwC Legal saw a significant rise, completing 108 deals, 56 more than the previous year, while DWF Group completed 78 transactions, 35 more than in 2023. Deloitte Legal ranked sixth with 72 deals, followed by Pérez-Llorca in seventh with 69 transactions, down by 21. Gómez-Acebo & Pombo placed eighth with 68 transactions, 1 more than in 2023, while KPMG Abogados ranked ninth with 62 transactions, 3 fewer than the previous year. Baker & McKenzie completed 45 transactions, climbing 11 places, tied with CMS, which also handled 45 deals, up 12. Linklaters managed 39 deals, up 5, while A&O Shearman handled 38 transactions, 5 more than last year. Clifford Chance handled 31 transactions, down 1 from 2023. Latham & Watkins completed 29 transactions, adding 12 to its count, while DLA Piper dropped significantly to 29 deals, 18 fewer than in 2023. EY (Law) completed 23 deals, 9 fewer than last year. Dentons Group and Squire Patton Boggs both handled 21 deals, while Cases & Lacambra rounded out the top twenty with 20 transactions, up by 2.
Portugal
In Portugal, Cuatrecasas led the rankings by deal volume, advising on 43 transactions worth $2.31 billion. PLMJ followed with 41 transactions worth $2.5 billion. Garrigues took third place, handling 18 transactions $233 million from, while VdA and Uría Menendez completed the top five, respectively.
When ranked by deal value, PLMJ led the way in Portugal with $2.53 billion 41 deals, followed by Cuatrecasas with 43 transactions $2.31 billion and VdA with $1.2 billion and 17 deals.
