Corporate/M&A (International & Cross-Border) | Global

Cravath, Swaine & Moore is highlighted as an elite-level example of an independent, lockstep firm with significant global influence. Its approach towards international work revolves around maintaining a high-quality partner-led practice in New York which collaborates effectively with other elite independent firms based overseas to advise on cross-border matters. The firm's work is driven predominantly from its New York base, where the bulk of its expertise and resources are situated. It also has a long-established London office which provides clients with a European centre of gravity and a high-performing capital markets group.

New York-headquartered Davis Polk has high-end capabilities across transactional, regulatory and contentious areas. It is set up to serve global clients and project-manage matters from key financial centres, including London, Paris, Beijing and Hong Kong, and collaborates with selected partner firms in other jurisdictions for local law aspects. The firm primarily serves large US and international investment banks, financial institutions and corporates, and it has extensive experience handling sophisticated, multi-jurisdictional M&A, financing and capital markets offerings, as well as running international investigations and disputes, including global antitrust files.

The firm's New York office acts as the main hub of its global work and is known for its representation of an elite clientele on high-end work. It frequently coordinates cross-border work with the firm's other international offices across Europe, Latin America and Asia and with carefully chosen independent co-counsel from other jurisdictions, which significantly bolsters its capabilities in multi-jurisdictional M&A.

Skadden has a premium global practice which has built widespread coverage and expertise across regions and areas of law on the foundation of its longstanding, market-leading reputation for US law advice. The firm has strength in depth across UK and European teams in transactional and contentious areas, which makes the firm a leading choice for sophisticated transatlantic matters. It has an excellent presence in key Asian markets, plus a São Paulo office that boosts the firm's global offering. The firm is a dominant force on international M&A, finance and energy transactions. It also regularly navigates clients through cross-border disputes, investigations and arbitration as coordinating counsel.

The firm's US teams provide best-in-class M&A advice to elite listed corporations, often project-managing outbound transactions from its New York base and directing carefully chosen local counsel. It is renowned for its work on high-value, inbound and outbound M&A transactions and displays great proficiency in transatlantic work. Its lawyers are adept at advising multinational corporate clients on transformative deals, frequently with assistance from the firm's corporate and finance-focused teams in London and Frankfurt. The firm's Asia platform is anchored by its strong standing in the Chinese M&A market, where it offers high-end specialised services on cross-border work involving the USA. It is also well regarded for prevalence advising on Latin America transactions, with the US offices frequently directing deals in cooperation with local firms.

The firm's high-performing M&A team in New York drives and coordinates a large share of cross-border transactions for clients including public companies, with notable experience in the insurance sector. The firm also has a solid reputation representing private equity shops and asset managers. An established presence in China bolsters the firm's international offering and is further supplemented by a team well versed in Latin American M&A. The firm's corporate group is spread across London, continental Europe, Moscow and Japan to boost its global platform, and the practice also works with a network of partner firms.

The firm performs strongly on both public and private transactions at a global level, typically coordinating from its New York base, and benefits from deep relationships with US-based listed corporates, private equity houses and asset managers. The firm's global deal flow is facilitated by its notable presence in the Chinese and Japanese markets which both US and overseas clients often utilise in cross-border transactions. The firm also has corporate lawyers located in London and Toronto to provide close guidance to local and US organisations in cross-border investments. The firm's elite standing in the USA makes it an attractive proposition to major clients for cross-border work, aided by its close relationships with high-end corporate firms abroad.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges has forged an excellent reputation internationally through a global platform principally built around its transactional capabilities. The firm's primary headquarters in New York and its impressive London base both act as important global hubs and are coupled with a far-reaching network of offices which extends across the USA and Europe, with Asian operations run from China. All the firm's offices have a principal focus on advising international banks, large multinational corporations and private equity funds. The firm typically offers strength in cross-border finance, restructuring, high-end M&A and tax across its platform.

The firm also demonstrates considerable prowess in transactional projects, with a burgeoning cross-border M&A practice emanating from its East and West Coast bases. The US team frequently represents clients, including large multinationals and private equity firms, in a range of international matters including M&A, carve-outs, joint ventures, hostile takeovers and shareholder activism. The firm's US lawyers are well integrated with its M&A practices in China, France, Germany and the UK, which assist US colleagues on the firm's largely US-led cross-border work, while the firm also frequently teams up with trusted partner firms overseas.

Jones Day's US offices are often referenced as the central pillar of its global operations and offer excellent cross-border capabilities to US-headquartered multinationals and international clients. Teams across the firm's US offices are relied upon to coordinate complex cross-border mandates and utilise the firm's broad global presence across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific to give clients a practical advantage when dealing with international issues. The US practice represents the firm's largest concentration of resources and its most in-depth hub of expertise worldwide, covering a full-service range of practice areas with lawyers boasting international experience across its platform.

The firm performs excellently in global private equity and public M&A transactions, with clients equally attracted by its highly proficient US team and its wide presence across major and emerging markets globally. The US team often collaborates with the firm's well-reputed European and Asian teams for inbound and outbound deals, serving US clients investing abroad and foreign companies entering the USA. It has a strong track record in US–Latin American M&A, leveraging its teams in Brazil and Mexico, which work closely with the Miami office. The firm also maintains strong ties to clients active in the Middle East, frequently leading transactions from the USA and utilising strong experience in the energy sector.

A&O Shearman is well equipped to handle cross-border M&A, financing and project development matters on a truly global scale. Its integrated practice across offices in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East combines to efficiently perform as lead counsel on multi-jurisdictional matters. It maintains relationships with an extensive variety of firms for the provision of local law advice outside the USA and Europe. The firm's recently opened Texas offices give greater proximity to domestic and international clients in the energy sector. On 1st May 2024, Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling merged to form A&O Shearman.

The firm's roots in the USA incorporate strong experience advising on M&A transactions emanating from and involving the US market. Spread across numerous global jurisdictions, the firm is an obvious choice for multi-jurisdictional transactions and can offer a full suite of services related to M&A deals, including tax, employment, due diligence and competition law. The US M&A team frequently collaborates with the firm's extensive internal network, which has an enormous capacity to match up to the international operations of global companies and investors and proves an attractive proposition for US-headquartered entities and foreign organisations in a mix of inbound and outbound cross-border work.

With a strong presence in the US mid-market, the M&A group offers solid international capabilities and experience representing US and overseas clients across multiple locations including the UK, France, Germany and China. The firm's presence in numerous key and secondary markets allows it to efficiently operate within its internal network for clients on cross-border M&A matters. The firm has notable expertise on domestic and international private equity, with a burgeoning practice representing asset managers in their global interests. Organised by global practice groups, the firm performs well in advising financial services providers and global life sciences companies and bolsters its M&A practice through a well-regarded antitrust group.

Hogan Lovells is an internationally oriented firm which combines a well-established presence in the USA and an impressive network of offices in other key jurisdictions throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. The firm's US presence remains an important contributor to its worldwide success and provides a strong transatlantic platform through frequent collaboration with the firm's London office. Washington, DC serves as a key location for the firm's international trade practice, while the firm's US base also plays a significant role in coordinating cross-border advice on regulated industries and M&A transactions.

The firm's M&A capabilities cover a broad scope of the market, from mid-market up to high-value transactions, often advising in a cross-border context. The US team performs well in a variety of transactions across industries. Its regulatory expertise means the firm has an enduring role with clients in technology, life sciences and energy as well as serving asset managers and private equity firms in their global investments. The US practice can call upon a strong international network with full-service offices stationed across key global financial and political centres, providing broad skill sets and a gateway to manage client relationships.

The firm's US team, which is spread across offices stationed in key centres, regularly advises on cross-border corporate matters for clients entering the US market and for domestic clients in outbound work. The US M&A group, particularly teams on the West Coast, demonstrates close collaboration with its highly rated Asian-based colleagues and is an excellent choice for Asian M&A with US components. It also earns significant praise for its advice on CFIUS regulations in relation to inbound investments. Combining this experience with the firm's sector focus, the team provides a strong international offering to investors and companies across the US-Asia axis.

Ropes & Gray provides an integrated international offering with a strong global focus on financial services, life sciences and pharmaceuticals. The firm's US offices act as its primary driving force for international work, with Boston and New York frequently leading cross-border work, typically coordinating global transactions for major private equity funds and corporations. Key areas of geographic strength include Asian markets, and Ropes & Gray is often considered a popular choice by US and Asian clients for investments from the USA into China and Japan, where the firm can also offer locally based US law-qualified experts.

Sidley Austin is frequently sought out by international clients for its global sector expertise, with the firm's focus built around strong relationships with clients in financial service, energy, life sciences and biotechnology. While the firm's US base remains the key hub of its global operations, Sidley Austin also attracts ample praise for its ability to join up experts across its platform throughout Europe and Asia, with offices in London, Singapore and China among others also playing a vital role in the firm's international appeal. The firm has an impressive ability to handle global transactions, disputes and investigations, enabling it to provide a comprehensive service on sophisticated matters for clients in its key industry groups.

A key pillar of the firm's global M&A strategy is built around providing US clients, including both listed corporates and private asset managers, with a platform to execute their outbound M&A mandates. Operating strong practices in both private and public M&A in the US market, the firm benefits from several corporate teams in European offices, including strong teams in the UK, Paris and Germany to support clients' transatlantic M&A needs. The team in New York also partners with and coordinates local counsel in Asia and other regions when handling matters in jurisdictions without an office presence, and the team often applies this approach advising on US investments into Latin America.

Covington & Burling offers a well-respected corporate law platform. The firm's M&A teams stand out for their impressive global network with strong ties to key jurisdictions including Asia and Europe. Clients appreciate the law firm's ability to coordinate with local counsel, frequently sought after by international companies to handle multi-jurisdictional projects. Covington is additionally noted for particular expertise in the life sciences sector, and broad knowledge of the biotech industry.

A distinguished full-service law firm, Freshfields is recognised for its international mindset and its ability to lead cross-border work from its London centre. The law firm has outstanding international capabilities and can utilise widespread offices in its top-tier, integrated network, which incorporates highly rated teams across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. Equally, the firm has established the 'Stronger Together' group of local firms, serving clients' needs in jurisdictions where collaboration with co-counsel is required.

The firm has a solid reputation in the US M&A market and is particularly noted for its involvement in private equity and venture capital transactions investing into companies involved in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and software development. It has achieved significant success in cross-border M&A for global clients and in serving US-based clients in outbound investment. The international work undertaken by the firm is often in the upper mid-market arena, frequently advising on its sectors of strength in transatlantic and US-Asia deals.

Paul Hastings has a highly respected corporate offering with an excellent reputation for its cross-office collaboration and strong global network. The team stands out for its work on complex cross-border cases, frequently directing negotiations and advising clients in relation to deals in key foreign markets, particularly in European, African and Asian jurisdictions. Clients praise the firm's deep bench consisting of highly qualified and capable lawyers, with the commercial awareness and legal expertise to successfully achieve transactional goals. The firm is regularly sought after by US and overseas investors for its international appeal, and its ability to collaborate seamlessly with local counsel and provide timely legal support worldwide.

The firm's New York headquarters has a strong reputation for upper mid-market and private equity transactions, offering global M&A capabilities and scope via boots on the ground in China, France, the UK and Brazil. The firm generates and coordinates much of its work from its New York office, offering specialist M&A capabilities and strong expertise in transactions involving global investment funds. The US team often connects with the firm's China offices to serve Asian clients, and London is a key hub for the firm's transatlantic work. As well as frequent US-Europe inbound and outbound mandates, the firm has a well-recognised handle on corporate work involving the USA and Latin America.