Sullivan & Cromwell led all law firm advisers in global M&A deals announced in 2021. The Firm advised on deals totaling $662.5 billion worldwide, representing an 11 percent market share, according to Refinitiv. The Firm also topped the rankings in deals with any U.S. party involved.
Overall, dealmaking surged to $5.9 trillion in 2021, a 64 percent increase from the prior year and the highest levels of growth on record.
“We are grateful that our clients turned to us for their transformational transactions,” said Melissa Sawyer, the Global Head of S&C’s M&A practice. “One hallmark of our practice is that we excel at such a wide range of highly complex matters. These deals spanned nearly every type of industry and transaction, and often involved cross-border matters.”
The Firm advised:
- AT&T in its spin-off of WarnerMedia and its transaction with Discovery, the biggest entertainment and media deal of the year;
- Canadian Pacific in its $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern after a dramatic bidding war;
- BNP Paribas in its $16.3 billion pending sale of its Bank of the West business, the largest bank M&A deal of the year;
- Deutsche Wohnen in its €19 billion combination with Vonovia;
- Baxter in its $12.4 billion acquisition of Hillrom
- Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp. in their $1.55 billion sale of their stake in Chile’s Sierra Gorda copper mine
- A series of SPAC deals, including TS Innovation Acquisitions’ merger with Latch, Ermenegildo Zegna Group’s combination with Investindustrial Acquisition Corp. and Hyzon Motors’ combination with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation.