Q-2 & 1st Half 2019 SPAC IPO Legal League Tables
by Kristi Marvin on 2019-06-30 at 7:55pm

Below are the recently released Q-2 & First Half 2019 SPAC IPO Legal League Tables

The legal league tables had a few surprises in the second quarter. Notably, Winston & Strawn climbed to #1 based on total deal volume with $1.46 billion in legal assignments.  To put that into context, Winston & Strawn sat out the first quarter having not participated in any SPACs, but came on strong in Q-2 to land the top spot.  Overall, three of Winston’s legal assignments were as Issuer’s Counsel and one was as Underwriter’s Counsel, with a total average deal size of $365 million.   

Additionally, Kirkland & Ellis, which took the #3 spot based on volume, also had four legal assignments, with all four as Underwriter’s Counsel. In fact, Kirkland appeared to be the firm of choice for underwriters in Q2 since their nearest competitor was Graubard Miller, which had two SPACs as Underwriter’s counsel.

Now focusing on Issuer’s counsel, once again, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole (EGS) took the top spot with four assignments and the #2 spot overall with $1.25 billion in total volume.  EGS also led in total deal count with five SPACs, but their average deal size was $249 million to Winston’s $365 million and as a result, Winston edged them out to rank #1 on total volume.

Additionally, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (“Paul, Weiss”) came in with a massive average deal size of $425 million to rank #1 in that category, but Skadden wasn’t far behind at $400 million.  Paul, Weiss was on the two recent Citigroup deals (Churchill II and South Mountain) as Issuer’s Counsel, while Skadden was Underwriter’s Counsel on the Diamond Eagle SPAC.

(continued…)

Ranked by Volume

(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the header cells)

Q2 2019

RankLaw FirmVolume
($mm)
Deal
Count
(Total)
Deal
Count
(Issuer's
Counsel)
Deal
Count
(UW's
Counsel)
Avg
Size
($mm)
%
Mkt
Share
1Winston & Strawn LLP1,460.0431365.021.3%
2EGS1,246.3541249.318.1%
3Kirkland & Ellis LLP952.5404238.113.9%
4Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP850.0220425.012.4%
5Graubard Miller687.5202343.810.0%
6Greenberg Traurig, LLP460.0211230.06.7%
7Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP400.0101400.05.8%
8Shearman & Sterling LLP316.3101316.34.6%
9Crowell & Moring, LLP172.5110172.52.5%
10Loeb & Loeb LLP161.022080.52.3%
11Schiff Hardin LLP115.0101115.01.7%
12Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC46.010146.00.7%

1H 2019

RankLaw FirmVolume
($mm)
Deal
Count
(Total)
Deal
Count
(Issuer's
Counsel)
Deal
Count
(UW's
Counsel)
Avg
Size
($mm)
%
Mkt
Share
1EGS3,369.31486240.724.8%
2Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP1,488.7514297.711.0%
3Winston & Strawn LLP1,460.0431365.010.8%
4Graubard Miller1,301.5532260.39.6%
5Kirkland & Ellis LLP1,252.7505250.59.2%
6Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP850.0220425.06.3%
7Ropes & Gray LLP680.0202340.05.0%
8Greenberg Traurig, LLP632.5321210.84.7%
9Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP630.0211315.04.6%
10Shearman & Sterling LLP566.3202283.14.2%
11Loeb & Loeb LLP276.044069.02.0%
12Vinson & Elkins LLP233.0110233.01.7%
13Latham & Watkins LLP230.0110230.01.7%
14Crowell & Moring, LLP172.5110172.51.3%
15Ledgewood PC150.7110150.71.1%
16Schiff Hardin LLP115.0101115.00.8%
17Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC115.020257.50.8%
18Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC46.010146.00.3%

Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume

However, first half (1-H) of 2019 league tables tell a very different story. EGS leads the list with a hefty 14 assignments, having previously been on nine SPACs in Q-1. The top five, (in order, based on volume), are: EGS, Skadden, Winston & Strawn, Graubard Miller, and Kirkland & Ellis, representing nearly two-thirds of the total SPAC market share to date (65.4%), out of a field of 18 law firms.  Interestingly, the list nearly matches up exactly to the Full Year 2018 rankings, with the exception of Kirkland & Ellis, which supplanted Greenberg Traurig to take the #5 spot. Additionally, Kirkland & Ellis is Issuer’s Counsel on the two recently filed SPACs – Oaktree Acquisition Corp. and Conyers Park II.  So both Winston and Kirkland are the law firms to watch in third quarter to see if they can catch EGS for the year-end totals.

Speaking of Q-3, we already have seven SPACs in the queue and it’s only July 1st.  If we have a record breaking number of deals this quarter, all bets are off.  More deals means more competition and anybody can take the lead.

All told, it was busy second quarter as well as first half for 2019, as expected.  We’re looking forward to revisiting the legal league tables in September.  See you next quarter.

You can find all of the published League Tables by clicking here.

 

Recent Posts
by Nicholas Alan Clayton on 2024-03-29 at 10:52am

Welsbach Technology (NASDAQ:WTMA) has signed a business combination agreement with Evolution Metals, which is developing technology to produce the critical materials and alloys in battery production. Transaction Overview Welsbach has about $23.4 million in its current trust after seeing 71.8% of shares redeemed in earlier extension votes that have pushed its deadline to June 30,...

by Nicholas Alan Clayton on 2024-03-29 at 7:38am

At the SPAC of Dawn On a day when the US markets are closed, there’s always a chance of SPAC actions sliding by as the SEC has left its EDGAR filing system open. Right on cue, Welsbach Technology (NASDAQ:WTMA) filed that it had come to a definitive agreement with battery production technology firm Evolution Metals....

by Nicholas Alan Clayton on 2024-03-28 at 1:35pm

News and Rumors PR: Bannix (NASDAQ:BNIX) has provided more information on the combination with VisionWave that it announced yesterday, specifying that the imaging technology that VisionWave will acquire from GBT Technologies will primarily seek out applications in military combat scenarios and geological surveys. PR: Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV), which combined with Virgin Group II in June...

by Nicholas Alan Clayton on 2024-03-28 at 7:47am

At the SPAC of Dawn Fed Chair Jerome Powell has given new hints that the administration would be showing greater levels of comfort with inflation if a cut could help improve unemployment numbers. Those numbers could get an update today at 8:30 am ET to bring new jobless claims as well as final prices for...

by Nicholas Alan Clayton on 2024-03-27 at 1:31pm

News and Rumors CNBC: Former WeWork (OTC Pink:WEWKQ) founder Adam Neumann has offered to buy back control of the company for $500 million but has yet to secure the necessary financing. WeWork went public with BowX in October 2021. PR: Satellite telecom firm Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) has signed an agreement to build and launch two...

logo

Copyright © 2023 SPACInsider, Inc. All Rights Reserved