Below are the recently released Q2 & H1 2018 SPAC IPO Legal League Tables
Once again, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole (“EGS”) dominated the SPAC IPO Legal League for both the second quarter and first half of 2018. EGS was counsel on six assignments in Q2, twice as many as their nearest competitor, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (“Skadden”), which had three assignments. Overall, for the first half of 2018, EGS had 11 SPAC assignments with total deal volume of $2.5 billion.
To put that in perspective, in ALL of 2017 EGS had a total of 13 SPAC assignments and total deal volume of $2.8 billion and still led the full year 2017 League Table. EGS has nearly matched that number already in 2018 and we still have six more months to go. Incredible.
However, Skadden was not far behind based on deal volume with a total of $2.4 billion in H1 2018 (thanks to larger deal sizes) and was the #1 counsel of choice for Underwriters, leading that group with 5 assignments. Both Skadden and EGS are consistently the providers of choice for SPAC counsels.
Rounding out the top are Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Greenberg Traurig, and Winston & Strawn, placing #3, #4 and #5, respectively, based on total deal volume and market share. Graubard Miller, while ranked #3 based on deal count, was ranked #6 based on deal volume due to the smaller size of its SPAC assignments.
There are a number of rumored high profile (and large) SPACs expected to file later this year, so it should be interesting to see which law firms they choose and how it will affect the year end rankings. Skadden’s average deal size is typically larger than EGS’s, so Skadden has an excellent shot at leading the full year 2018 Legal League.
However, those rumored SPACS – Chinh Chu and Apollo – are still just rumors. And as we’ve seen, a lot can happen in one or two quarters, so Freshfields has an excellent shot at the top spot as well.
Ranked by Volume
(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the top row)
1H 2018
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 2,485.8 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 226.0 | 22.3% |
| 2 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 2,377.5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 396.3 | 21.3% |
| 3 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP | 1,215.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 405.0 | 10.9% |
| 4 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 1,009.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 252.3 | 9.0% |
| 5 | Graubard Miller | 975.0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 139.3 | 8.7% |
| 6 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 783.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 261.0 | 7.0% |
| 7 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 450.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 225.0 | 4.0% |
| 8 | Thompson & Knight LLP | 414.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 414.0 | 3.7% |
| 9 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP | 345.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 345.0 | 3.1% |
| 10 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 300.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 300.0 | 2.7% |
| 11 | McDermott Will & Emery | 201.3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 201.3 | 1.8% |
| 12 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 201.3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 201.3 | 1.8% |
| 13 | Venable | 155.3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 155.3 | 1.4% |
| 14 | Fox Rothschild LLP | 125.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 125.0 | 1.1% |
| 15 | Holland & Knight, LLP | 115.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 115.0 | 1.0% |
Q2 2018
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg. Size | Mkt Share (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 1,647.8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 274.6 | 24.0% |
| 2 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 1,552.5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 517.5 | 22.6% |
| 3 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP | 940.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 470.0 | 13.7% |
| 4 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 644.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 322.0 | 9.4% |
| 5 | Graubard Miller | 515.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 171.7 | 7.5% |
| 6 | Thompson & Knight LLP | 414.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 414.0 | 6.0% |
| 7 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP | 345.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 345.0 | 5.0% |
| 8 | Graubard Miller | 257.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 128.5 | 3.7% |
| 9 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 250.0 | 3.6% |
| 10 | McDermott Will & Emery | 201.3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 201.3 | 2.9% |
| 11 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 201.3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 201.3 | 2.9% |
| 12 | Venable LLP | 155.3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 155.3 | 2.3% |
Q1 2018
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg. Size ($mm) | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 838.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 167.6 | 19.6 |
| 2 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 825.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 275.0 | 19.3 |
| 3 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 533.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 266.5 | 12.5 |
| 4 | Graubard Miller | 456.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 114.1 | 10.7 |
| 5 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 450.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 225.0 | 10.5 |
| 6 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 365.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 182.5 | 8.5 |
| 7 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 300.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 300.0 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP | 275.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 275.0 | 6.4 |
| 9 | Fox Rothschild LLP | 125.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 125.0 | 2.9 |
| 10 | Holland & Knight, LLP | 111.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 111.5 | 2.6 |
Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume
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