Paul Hastings and AZB & Partners have emerged as the foremost legal advisers in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for the first half (HI) of 2025 in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, according to the latest league table from GlobalData, a data and analytics company.
This ranking evaluates legal firms based on the value and volume of M&A transactions they have supported.
GlobalData’s deals database indicates that Paul Hastings secured the top spot in terms of deal value, advising on transactions amounting to $23.1bn. AZB & Partners led in deal volume, having advised 24 transactions.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Paul Hastings was the clear winner by value, outpacing its peers by a significant margin. It was the only adviser to surpass $20bn mark in total deal value. Involvement in the $22.8bn deal for the acquisition of a majority stake in ports from CK Hutchison Holdings and Panama Ports by a consortium of investors played a pivotal role in Paul Hastings leading the chart by value.
“Meanwhile, AZB & Partners led by volume but faced close competition from TriLegal. AZB & Partners registered improvement in the total number of deals advised by it during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024. Resultantly, its ranking by volume also improved from the third position in H1 2024 to the top position in H1 2025.”
According to the database, TriLegal secured the second position in terms of deal volume. While it advised on 24 deals, matching the number of deals handled by AZB & Partners, the total value of TriLegal’s deals was lower. Khaitan & Co followed closely in third place, having advised on 20 deals.
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By GlobalDataJ Sagar Associates and Baker McKenzie took fourth and fifth spots with 14 and 12 deals, respectively.
In terms of value, Clifford Chance claimed the second position, advising on $9.9bn worth of transactions. King & Wood Mallesons followed closely with $9bn, while Khaitan & Co and Sullivan & Cromwell reported values of $8.3bn and $8bn, respectively.
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.
