Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher emerged as the leading legal advisers for power sector mergers and acquisitions (M&A) during the first quarter of 2026 (Q1 2026) in terms of value and volume, respectively, based on a league table from data analytics company GlobalData.
According to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database, Kirkland & Ellis topped the value rankings having advised on deals worth $42.7bn.
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In terms of deal volume count, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised on the highest number of M&A, working on 11 deals.
Other law firms ranked by total deal value included Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which advised on deals totalling $39.5bn.
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson reported deal values of $35.6bn, followed by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett with $35.3bn and Davis Polk & Wardwell with $33.4bn.
In terms of deal volume, Latham & Watkins and CMS each advised on eight transactions, while A&O Shearman handled six.
Kirkland & Ellis followed with involvement in five deals during the quarter.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher was the only adviser with double-digit deal volume in Q1 2026. Apart from leading by volume, it also held ninth position by value during the quarter.
“Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis advised on a relatively lesser number of deals but managed to lead by value due to its involvement in some big-ticket deals. Three of the five deals advised by it during Q1 2026 were billion-dollar deals, including a mega deal valued at more than $10bn.”
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available in 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 of the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
