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Q1 M&A activity tanks, firms fight for scraps: AZB, Trilegal, DSK, Platinum ‘win’

Q1 M&A: In terrible shape
Q1 M&A: In terrible shape
AZB & Partners has done the greatest number of deals (13) in the first quarter of this year, according to the mergermarket M&A deal rankings release today, followed by Trilegal, Khaitan & Co and Amarchand Mangaldas.

This quarter’s biggest deal – the $1.6bn sale of Strides Arcolab’s subsidiary to Nasdaq-listed generic drugs-maker Mylan Inc – propelled DSK Legal and Platinum Partners to the top of the value league table.

Although AZB’s reported deals increased by six this quarter, the value of those deals at $510m has decreased by 77 per cent as against the same quarter in 2012.

Trilegal acted on eight M&A deals worth $188m in total – five more deals than were reported in the same period last year. Khaitan & Co’s reported deal count dropped by four to six with a value of $67m, while Amarchand dropped from 12 in the first quarter of 2013 to four now (total value of $107m).

Also on the league table are Desai & Diwanji with four deals, and MNK Law Offices – a Delhi-based law firm set up in 1996 - and J Sagar Associates (JSA), all with aggregate deal values below $100m.

Values game

The values league table for the first quarter has been dominated by nine advisers on the $1.6bn Strides Arcolab Mylan takeover, of whom DSK and Platinum are India-based.

Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and White & Case got a $537m bump from Manila Electric Company and FPM Power Holdings buy of a power plant in Singapore from GMR Infrastructure.

Comparatively dry?

In the same time period last year, Amarchand and Luthra & Luthra each had more than $10bn of M&A deals to their name on the back of the $10.3bn Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries merger. AZB had amassed more than $2bn, while S&R Associates and Khaitan & Co (ranked sixth and seventh respectively last year) had a volume tally of more than $500m.

In the 2012 calendar year league table, Desai Diwanji had topped the volume table with 43 reported deals worth $1.4bn, followed by Amarchand (39 deals of $20bn), Khaitan with (34 deals totalling $2.3bn), AZB (26 deals / $4.6bn), DSK (17 deals / $1.5bn), Trilegal (17 deals / $750m) and J Sagar Associates (JSA) (14 deals / $660m). .

Macro

In the first quarter of this year, the total M&A deals in India slumped by more than 80 per cent to only $2.9bn, according to mergermarket data, or by 58 per cent if excluding 2012 giant Sesa Goa deal. Outbound deal from India were at their lowest since Q3 of 2010 at only $600m. The total announced deal volume decreased from 77 to 55, in a Q1 year-by-year comparison. Deal activity in the Asia Pacific region was almost as lacklustre, dropping by 26 per cent by value.

Download full mergermarket press release from here

Legal Advisors by Value – Q1 2013

Rank (Q1 2012) Rank (Q1 2013) Firm Value (US$m) # Deals % Value
Change Q1 2012 Q1 2013      
- 1= Barbosa, Mussnich & Aragao 1,600 1 -
8 1= DSK Legal 1,600 1 73.70%
- 1= Haynes and Boone 1,600 1 -
12 1= Herbert Smith Freehills 1,600 1 305.10%
- 1= Morgan Lewis & Bockius 1,600 1 -
- 1= Pinheiro Neto Advogados 1,600 1 -
- 1= Platinum Partners 1,600 1 -
3 1= Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 1,600 1 -84.40%
- 1= Slaughter and May 1,600 1 -
- 10 Webber Wentzel 548 1 -
- 11= Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy 537 1  
- 11= White & Case 537 1  
5 13 AZB & Partners 510 13 -76.30%
22 14 Trilegal 188 8 22.10%
- 15= Lawrence Graham 151 1 -
- 15= Norton Rose 151 1 -

Legal Advisors by Number of Deals – Q1 2013

Rank (Q1 2012) Rank (Q1 2013) Firm Value (US$m) # Deals Change in deals #
5 1 AZB & Partners 510 13 6
8 2 Trilegal 188 8 5
3 3 Khaitan & Co 67 6 -4
2 4 Amarchand Mangaldas 107 4 -8
1 5 Desai & Diwanji 26 4 -11
- 6 MNK Law Offices 59 3 3
9 7 J Sagar Associates 25 3 -
52 8 DLA Piper 45 2 1
7 9 Nishith Desai Associates 41 2 -3
- 10 Argus Partners 11 2 2
6 11 K Law 0 2 -4
- 12 Barbosa, Mussnich & Aragao 1,600 1 1
4 13 DSK Legal 1,600 1 -7
- 14 Haynes and Boone 1,600 1 1
13 15 Herbert Smith Freehills 1,600 1 -1
- 16 Morgan Lewis & Bockius 1,600 1 1
- 17 Pinheiro Neto Advogados 1,600 1 1
- 18 Platinum Partners 1,600 1 1
21 19 Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 1,600 1 -
- 20 Slaughter and May 1,600 1 1

Source: mergermarket

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