Power Technology

Daily Newsletter

10 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

GlobalData names top ten M&A legal advisers in power sector for H1 2023

Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis became the top M&A legal advisers by both value and volume, respectively.

Analytics company GlobalData, the parent company of Power Technology, has found that US multinational law firms Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis were the top legal advisers in the power sector during the first half of 2023.

The data for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in H1 2023 shows that Jones Day advised on a cumulative $11.2bn of deals, more than any other firm. It is a sharp rise from H1 2022, when the company advised on $811m of deals, only enough to rank number 35 at the time.

Kirkland & Ellis, meanwhile, had worked on the most different deals, advising on 18 mergers and acquisitions. Although this is a 30.8% decrease on the 26 deals it advised on in H1 2022, the company still managed to maintain the number one spot it held at that time.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said of the table: “Although Kirkland & Ellis led by volume, it faced very close competition from Clifford Chance for the top position. Meanwhile, Jones Day was the clear winner as it was the only firm with more than $10bn in total deal value.”

Jones Day was followed in second place by Gibson, Dunn and Cutcher, which advised on $7.5bn worth of deals. Close behind was Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $7.4bn advised. While Kirkland & Ellis advised on 18 deals, more than any other, the cumulative $5.3bn value of those deals were only enough to secure fifth place on the value table.

Kirkland & Ellis was followed closely on the volume table by Clifford Chance in second, which advised on 17 deals. The company rose from seventh place in H1 2022. In third was CMS, which occupied second in H1 2022, with its tally of 20 deals last year falling to 15 this year. Dentons doubled its H1 2022 tally from 7 to 14 in H1 2023 to take fourth spot. Jones Day, despite leading the value category, did not rank in the top ten for volume with only nine deals advised.

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on 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 to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.