The latest Mergermarket league tables reveal that first quarter of 2017 recorded the highest Q1 deal value for India since 2011. A large portion of the $18.3 billion comes from the landmark Vodafone-Idea deal, which is worth $12.7 billion. This is the largest deal conducted by an Indian company on record, surpassing Tata Steel’s US$ 11.9bn takeover of Corus Plc.
M&A League Tables
AZB & Partners and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas dominated both the deal value and deal count tables, with 14 deals at $14.2 billion and 7 deals at $13.1 billion respectively.
Deal Value
S&R Associates, Bharucha & Partners and Vaish Associates, the other law firms involved in the Vodafone-Idea deal, also make it in the top five. The other Indian law firms in the list include Trilegal with 4 deals at $0.3 billion, Nishith Desai Associates with 4 deals at $0.29 billion, Veritas Legal with 1 deal at $0.25 billion and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas with a single deal at $0.24 billion.
The international law firms in the list include Slaughter & May, Borenius Attorneys, White & Case, Allen & Overy, Bryan Cave and Locke Lord.
| Rank | Firm | Deal Value ($ billion) | Deal Count |
| 1 | AZB & Partners | 14.3 | 14 |
| 2 | Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas | 13.1 | 7 |
| 3 | Slaughter & May | 12.8 | 2 |
| 4 | S&R Associates | 12.7 | 2 |
| 5 | Bharucha & Partners | 12.7 | 1 |
| 5 | Vaish Associates | 12.7 | 1 |
| 7 | Borenius Attorneys | 0.7 | 1 |
| 7 | White & Case | 0.7 | 1 |
| 9 | Trilegal | 0.4 | 4 |
| 10 | Nishith Desai Associates | 0.3 | 4 |
| 11 | Veritas Legal | 0.25 | 1 |
| 12 | Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas | 0.24 | 4 |
| 13 | Allen & Overy | 0.2 | 1 |
| 14 | Bryan Cave | 0.17 | 1 |
| 14 | Locke Lord | 0.17 | 1 |
Deal Count
Following AZB & SAM, Khaitan is third with 7 deals, followed by Trilegal, NDA, CAM and JSA with 4 deals each. A host of law firms, including Luthra & Luthra and BMR Legal, are tied with 2 deals each.
| Rank | Firm | Deal Value ($ billion) | Deal Count |
| 1 | AZB & Partners | 14.3 | 14 |
| 2 | Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas | 13.1 | 7 |
| 3 | Khaitan & Co. | 0.13 | 7 |
| 4 | Trilegal | 0.4 | 4 |
| 5 | Nishith Desai Associates | 0.3 | 4 |
| 6 | Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas | 0.24 | 4 |
| 7 | JSA | 0.15 | 4 |
| 8 | Slaughter & May | 12.8 | 2 |
| 9 | S&R Associates | 12.7 | 2 |
| 10 | Luthra & Luthra | 0.1 | 2 |
| 11 | BMR Legal | 0.09 | 2 |
| 12 | Greenberg Traurig | 0.09 | 2 |
| 13 | Spice Route Legal | 0.08 | 2 |
| 14 | HSA Advocates | 0.07 | 2 |
| 14 | IndusLaw | 0.07 | 2 |
AZB and SAM also feature in the Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) league table by value, along with S&R, Bharucha and Vaish. The two firms also find mention in the UK deal value table and in the Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) deal count tables.
PE Deals
With a total value of $0.34 billion from 5 deals, AZB makes it to the PE buyout and exits table for Asia Pacific. Khaitan also made it to this table, with 3 deals at $0.02 billion. SAM had 1 deal at $0.25 billion, making it to the Asia-Pacific buyouts table.