Below are the recently released Q-3 & YTD 2019 SPAC IPO Legal League Tables
For both the Third-Quarter, as well as Year-to-Date (YTD) 2019, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole (“EGS”), once again, led the SPAC IPO Legal League tables with a commanding number of legal assignments. Furthermore, EGS’s Total Deal Volume was $1.957 billion, which accounts for nearly 30% of the SPAC Third-Quarter SPAC IPO market share. For reference, there were a total of 14 SPAC IPOs priced in Q-3, so EGS’s nine assignments as either Issuer’s (5) or Underwriter’s Counsel (4), meant they participated in a remarkable 64% of all SPACs this quarter.
Notably, Ropes & Gray, which had only one legal assignment in all of 2018, came on strong and climbed to the number two spot in the third quarter with five assignments, four as Underwriter’s Counsel. They made their presence known in a big way this quarter and they’ll be a law firm to watch going forward.
Rounding out the top three, Kirkland & Ellis, picked up three more assignments as Issuer’s Counsel, with total deal volume of $881 million, edging out #4’s Graubard Miller, with $753 million in deal volume. These four law firms – EGS, Ropes & Gray, Kirkland & Ellis, Graubard Miller – absolutely dominated the third quarter legal league tables, accounting for 75.3% of the total market share. The rest of the field had one SPAC each, with the exception of Loeb & Loeb, which had two assignments,
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Ranked by Volume
(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the header cells)
Q3 2019
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 1,957.4 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 217.5 | 29.3% |
| 2 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 1,443.8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 288.8 | 21.6% |
| 3 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 881.3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 293.8 | 13.2% |
| 4 | Graubard Miller | 752.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 250.8 | 11.2% |
| 5 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 314.1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 314.1 | 4.7% |
| 6 | Vinson & Elkins LLP | 314.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 314.1 | 4.7% |
| 7 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 253.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 253.0 | 3.8% |
| 8 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 250.0 | 3.7% |
| 9 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 250.0 | 3.7% |
| 10 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 172.5 | 2.6% |
| 11 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 101.9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 51.0 | 1.5% |
YTD 2019
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 5,326.7 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 231.6 | 26.1% |
| 2 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 2,133.9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 266.7 | 10.4% |
| 3 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 2,123.8 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 303.4 | 10.4% |
| 4 | Graubard Miller | 2,054.0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 256.8 | 10.0% |
| 5 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 1,803.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 360.6 | 8.8% |
| 6 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 1,738.7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 289.8 | 8.5% |
| 7 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 944.1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 314.7 | 4.6% |
| 8 | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP | 940.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 470.0 | 4.6% |
| 9 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 738.8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 246.3 | 3.6% |
| 10 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 632.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 210.8 | 3.1% |
| 11 | Vinson & Elkins LLP | 547.1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 273.6 | 2.7% |
| 12 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 377.9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 63.0 | 1.8% |
| 13 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 250.0 | 1.2% |
| 14 | Latham & Watkins LLP | 230.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 230.0 | 1.1% |
| 15 | Crowell & Moring, LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 172.5 | 0.8% |
| 16 | Ledgewood PC | 150.7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 150.7 | 0.7% |
| 17 | Schiff Hardin LLP | 115.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 115.0 | 0.6% |
| 18 | Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC | 115.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 57.5 | 0.6% |
| 19 | Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC | 46.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46.0 | 0.2% |
Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume
Looking at the YTD Legal League Tables, EGS leads with a stunning 23 SPAC legal assignments so far this year and a total deal volume of $5.327 billion. EGS has already surpassed their 2018 year-end total of 22 IPOs and are nearly $1 billion ahead of last year’s $4.467 billion in total deal volume. That means that EGS has been either Issuer’s Counsel or Underwriter’s Counsel on over half of the 42 SPAC IPOs this year, completely dominating the Legal League.
Also worth noting is Kirkland & Ellis, which surged to the number two spot with eight legal assignments year-to-date and a total deal volume of $2.134 billion. That’s double what this law firm did in all of 2018 (four assignments, $1.146 billion deal volume). However, Ropes & Gray is nipping at their heals with seven assignments and $2.124 billion in total deal volume to rank at number three. Both Kirkland and Ropes have really come on strong this year and are expected to be formidable challengers in 2020.
Rounding out the top five, once again, we see Graubard Miller and Winston & Strawn, with total deal volume of $2.054 billion and $1.803 billion, respectively. These two firms consistently rank in the top five so they could easily surge ahead in the next quarter as well.
All told, it was an extremely busy quarter and we’re looking forward to revisiting the Year-End league tables in December.
You can find all of the published League Tables by clicking here.
Ranked by Volume
(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the header cells)
YTD 2019
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 5,326.7 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 231.6 | 26.1% |
| 2 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 2,133.9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 266.7 | 10.4% |
| 3 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 2,123.8 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 303.4 | 10.4% |
| 4 | Graubard Miller | 2,054.0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 256.8 | 10.0% |
| 5 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 1,803.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 360.6 | 8.8% |
| 6 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 1,738.7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 289.8 | 8.5% |
| 7 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 944.1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 314.7 | 4.6% |
| 8 | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP | 940.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 470.0 | 4.6% |
| 9 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 738.8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 246.3 | 3.6% |
| 10 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 632.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 210.8 | 3.1% |
| 11 | Vinson & Elkins LLP | 547.1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 273.6 | 2.7% |
| 12 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 377.9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 63.0 | 1.8% |
| 13 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 250.0 | 1.2% |
| 14 | Latham & Watkins LLP | 230.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 230.0 | 1.1% |
| 15 | Crowell & Moring, LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 172.5 | 0.8% |
| 16 | Ledgewood PC | 150.7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 150.7 | 0.7% |
| 17 | Schiff Hardin LLP | 115.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 115.0 | 0.6% |
| 18 | Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC | 115.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 57.5 | 0.6% |
| 19 | Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC | 46.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46.0 | 0.2% |
Q3 2019
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 1,957.4 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 217.5 | 29.3% |
| 2 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 1,443.8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 288.8 | 21.6% |
| 3 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 881.3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 293.8 | 13.2% |
| 4 | Graubard Miller | 752.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 250.8 | 11.2% |
| 5 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 314.1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 314.1 | 4.7% |
| 6 | Vinson & Elkins LLP | 314.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 314.1 | 4.7% |
| 7 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 253.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 253.0 | 3.8% |
| 8 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 250.0 | 3.7% |
| 9 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 250.0 | 3.7% |
| 10 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 172.5 | 2.6% |
| 11 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 101.9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 51.0 | 1.5% |
Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume
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