Below are the recently released Q1 2020 SPAC IPO Legal League Tables
As mentioned previously, this feels like an incomplete quarter since the SPAC window effectively came to a grinding halt in early March. As a result, we’re missing almost a month’s worth of IPO pricings and now have a backlog of 12 SPACs on file to IPO. However, SPACs did manage to IPO a total of 13 deals for gross proceeds of $3.925 billion in the Q1 2020, so it’s still a fairly robust number. And the results do show quite a bit of movement within the Legal League…
Notably, Winston & Strawn LLP. Winston & Strawn, dominated the first quarter of 2020 by leading in total volume at $2.526 billion in legal assignments. That Q1 volume figure has already exceeded their total Full-Year 2019 volume of $2.234 billion. Additionally, Winston racked up a total of five legal assignments, four as Issuer’s Counsel and one as Underwriter’s Counsel. This is even more impressive when you consider that Winston & Strawn did not have any legal assignments in the first quarter of 2019, but has since then made a very big push to land in the Q1 2020 top spot.
Taking the number two spot for the quarter is Ropes & Gray LLP, which ranks consistently near the top of the Legal League, having been counsel to $1.345 billion of SPAC IPOs in Q1 2020, with three legal assignments, all as Underwriter’s counsel. Furthermore, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (“Paul, Weiss”), ranked third, having been Issuer’s Counsel to the $1.1 billion Churchill Capital Corp. III, the largest SPAC to ever price.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP, follow as ranking #4, #5, and #6, respectively, based on total volume. These three legal firms consistently rank near the top and are very visible firms within the SPAC landscape. Plus, given the backlog of deals we currently have on file, it will be interesting to see where these six firms shake out once the SPAC IPO market comes off of “quarantine”. As SPACs start pricing again in the second quarter (or third quarter), it should make for an extremely competitive League Table with further movement among the ranks.
It should be noted that Loeb & Loeb LLP, had three legal assignments in the first quarter of 2020, two as Issuer’s Counsel and one as Underwriter’s Counsel, which ranks them at #3 based on deal count. Also a good effort. However, since their average deal size was on the smaller side at $64.0 million, Loeb ranked lower based on total volume.
You can find all of the published League Tables by clicking here.
Ranked by Volume
(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the header cells)
Q1 2020
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 2,526.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 505.2 | 32.2% |
| 2 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 1,345.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 448.3 | 17.1% |
| 3 | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP | 1,100.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1,100.0 | 14.0% |
| 4 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 425.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 425.0 | 5.4% |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 299.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 149.5 | 3.8% |
| 6 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 295.6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 147.8 | 3.8% |
| 7 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 276.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 276.0 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Graubard Miller | 241.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 241.5 | 3.1% |
| 9 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 230.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 230.0 | 2.9% |
| 10 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 230.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 230.0 | 2.9% |
| 11 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 207.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 103.5 | 2.6% |
| 12 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 192.1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 64.0 | 2.4% |
| 13 | Tarter, Krinsky & Drogin LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 172.5 | 2.2% |
| 14 | K&L Gates LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 172.5 | 2.2% |
| 15 | Schiff Hardin LLP | 138.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 138.0 | 1.8% |
Q1 2019
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | 2,078.3 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 230.9 | 31.5% |
| 2 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 1,083.2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 270.8 | 16.4% |
| 3 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 680.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 340.0 | 10.3% |
| 4 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 630.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 315.0 | 9.6% |
| 5 | Graubard Miller | 614.0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 204.7 | 9.3% |
| 6 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 261.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 261.0 | 4.0% |
| 7 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 250.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 250.0 | 3.8% |
| 8 | Vinson & Elkins LLP | 233.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 233.0 | 3.5% |
| 9 | Latham & Watkins LLP | 230.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 230.0 | 3.5% |
| 10 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 172.5 | 2.6% |
| 11 | Ledgewood PC | 150.7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 150.7 | 2.3% |
| 12 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 107.5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 53.8 | 1.6% |
| 13 | Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC | 107.5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 53.8 | 1.6% |
FY 2019
| Rank | Law Firm | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Deal Count (Issuer's Counsel) | Deal Count (UW's Counsel) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EGS | 7,305.4 | 33 | 21 | 12 | 221.4 | 26.9% |
| 2 | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | 3,165.9 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 263.8 | 11.6% |
| 3 | Graubard Miller | 3,120.0 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 208.0 | 11.5% |
| 4 | Ropes & Gray LLP | 2,768.8 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 307.6 | 10.2% |
| 5 | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | 2,355.0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 294.4 | 8.7% |
| 6 | Winston & Strawn LLP | 2,234.3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 319.2 | 8.2% |
| 7 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | 944.1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 314.7 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP | 940.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 470.0 | 3.5% |
| 9 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | 757.9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 94.7 | 2.8% |
| 10 | Shearman & Sterling LLP | 738.8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 246.3 | 2.7% |
| 11 | Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 632.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 210.8 | 2.3% |
| 12 | Vinson & Elkins LLP | 547.1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 273.6 | 2.0% |
| 13 | Ledgewood PC | 466.9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 233.5 | 1.7% |
| 14 | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP | 330.5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 165.3 | 1.2% |
| 15 | Latham & Watkins LLP | 230.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 230.0 | 0.8% |
| 16 | Crowell & Moring, LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 172.5 | 0.6% |
| 17 | Schiff Hardin LLP | 172.5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 86.3 | 0.6% |
| 18 | Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC | 115.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 57.5 | 0.4% |
| 19 | Mayer Brown LLP | 100.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0.4% |
| 20 | Becker & Poliakoff LLP | 57.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57.5 | 0.2% |
| 21 | Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC | 46.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46.0 | 0.2% |
Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume
Israeli tech firms have made up an outsized proportion of SPAC activity and despite the ongoing tensions in its region, that dealmaking is continuing unabated. In fact, the SPAC named for the particular mission of taking Israeli firms public through SPACs, Israel Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ISRL) in fact just took one step closer in completing that...
At the SPAC of Dawn Although the market has largely recovered from a negative stretch last week, the roller coaster is tilted back downward for Trump Media (NASDAQ:DJT), which slid -8% yesterday to $32.57 – one of its lowest points since closing with Digital World last month. Other SPACs and de-SPACs are having a more...
Remember the metaverse? Many do not. Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) attempted transition to virtually living and working seemed to mark a trend that went up and down quickly, but one SPAC deal has both survived that roller coaster and may rise with a second. Back in December 2022, Newbury Street (NASDAQ:NBST) announced a $1.85 billion combination with...
At the SPAC of Dawn Tucked into the bill that provides $95 billion in funding to American allies passed by the House this weekend is another measure that is likely to have far more impact on at least one pending deal in SPAC world. It would appear that the timing was fortuitous for TikTok rival...
With the passage this weekend of $95 billion in funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan by the House of Representatives, some focus has gone back towards the defense sector, which has generally had a good year as a whole. But, SPACs have not been as active in defense, despite the fact that companies in the...