Is Chicago Challenging New York For M&A Dominance?

Can the Windy City blow NYC out of its traditional top perch in M&A work?

Summer day in ChicagoChicago is a great city for architecture buffs, restaurant aficionados, and theater geeks. And here’s another: corporate lawyers looking to work on major M&A deals, including (but not limited to) ones with Midwest ties. From Chicago Lawyer:

New York’s white-shoe firms have a stranglehold on the global market for advisory work on M&A transactions, strengthened by their relationships with financial advisers and experience. But what about the local business? Who’s sitting at the deal table with the biggest companies from Chicago and the suburbs?

An analysis of Thomson Reuters data shows that in a record year for mergers and acquisitions, a small number of Chicago practices beat out New York competition for that lucrative work. Chicago-based lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden and Sidley Austin combined to advise Illinois companies on six of the 10 largest local deals during the 12 months ending October 2015. Of the 20 local companies involved in the biggest deals, 12 hired local lawyers.

When the firms on the Thomson Reuters’ list are ranked by the value of the deals they advised on, the scorecard reflects the fact that Chicago’s top deal-making lawyers compete directly with New York firms. New York-based Davis Polk led all firms, advising on nearly $120 billion worth of deals, followed closely by Kirkland, whose New York and Chicago offices combined to represent companies in deals worth nearly $117 billion.

The Chicago Lawyer article by Roy Strom profiles four premier practices in Chicago M&A: Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden Arps, Sidley Austin, and Baker & McKenzie.

Brutal winters aside, Chicago has much to recommend it as a place to practice law. NYC-level base salaries and bonuses can buy quite a few dinners at Alinea (when it reopens as Alinea 2.0 later this year).

Defending against the New York M&A giants [Chicago Lawyer via @SidleyNewsroom]

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