The law firms Sullivan & Cromwell and Kirkland & Ellis topped two league tables devised by GlobalData after analysing the M&A that took place in the consumer sector in 2025.
According to GlobalData, Just Drinks’ parent, Sullivan & Cromwell headed the charts when measuring the value of transactions while Kirkland & Ellis advised on the most deals.
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Sullivan & Cromwell worked on deals in the consumer sector worth a cumulative $84bn. Kirkland & Ellis was appointed an adviser on 32 transactions.
Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, said: “Sullivan & Cromwell was way ahead of its peers in terms of value during 2025, as it advised on some big-ticket deals. In fact, six of the seven deals advised by Sullivan & Cromwell during 2025 were billion-dollar deals that also included two mega deals valued more than $10bn.
“Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser by volume in 2024 and retained its leadership position by this metric in 2025 as well. It also held the second position in terms of value by advising on $63.5bn worth of deals.”
Sullivan & Cromwell was the legal advisor to Anheuser-Busch InBev on the brewing giant’s deal to buy a majority stake in BeatBox the US-based hard-punch maker.
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By GlobalDataAmong the transactions on which Kirkland & Ellis worked was the sale of a majority shareholding in US waters business Spindrift to Gryphon Investors.
When measuring the value of deals, Kirkland & Ellis ranked second, advising on $63.52bn worth of transactions.
Cravath Swaine & Moore stood third after being contracted on deals worth a combined $54.13bn.
In terms of deal volume, Latham & Watkins ranked second after advising on 27 transactions during 2025. Baker McKenzie was third with 20.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of sources including company websites and advisory firm websites. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
