The Brief:
Mallesons claims the value crown in 1H26 with A$55.5bn in deals, while HSF Kramer tops the table on deal count with 52 deals.
Fewer deals, bigger price tags: Australasian M&A hit A$101.6bn across 475 deals in 1H26, down from 622 deals a year earlier.
Mallesons claims the value crown as HSF Kramer wins on deal count in a shrinking but pricier Australasian market.
Deal Value
Mallesons held onto top spot by volume in Mergermarket’s Australasia League Tables, posting $55.5bn across 46 deals, up 109.3% on 1H25’s A$26.5bn.
Ashurst Perkins Coie kept 2nd with $24.5bn across 40 deals, down 6.6% year-on-year. HSF Kramer rounded out the podium with $24bn across 52 deals, down 5.5%.
Allens climbed to 4th with $18.8bn across 22 deals, up 37.6%. Gilbert & Tobin rose to 5th with $17.7bn across 35 deals, up 46.4%.
1H26 | 1H25 | Law Firm | Deal Volume (A$)* | % Volume Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Mallesons | $55.54bn | +109.3% |
2 | 2 | Ashurst Perkins Coie | $24.46bn | -6.6% |
3 | 3 | HSF Kramer | $24.02bn | -5.5% |
4 | 4 | Allens | $18.77bn | +37.6% |
5 | 5 | Gilbert & Tobin | $17.70bn | +46.4% |
6 | 36 | Latham & Watkins | $12.14bn | +428.2% |
7 | 9 | MinterEllison | $10.35bn | +31.8% |
8 | 134 | Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | $9.15bn | - |
9 | - | Davis Polk & Wardwell | $8.92bn | - |
10 | 43 | Sidley Austin | $8.47bn | +388.4% |
11 | - | Bredin Prat SAS | $7.44bn | - |
12 | - | Carey Olsen | $6.49bn | - |
13 | 27 | McCarthy Tetrault | $6.46bn | +94.6% |
14 | 6 | Corrs Chambers Westgarth | $5.87bn | -40.9% |
15 | 49 | Cooley | $5.58bn | +337.9% |
16 | 7 | Chapman Tripp | $3.92bn | -59.1% |
17 | 8 | Clayton Utz | $3.70bn | -60.6% |
18 | 14 | Linklaters | $3.49bn | -39.7% |
19 | 26 | Freshfields | $3.44bn | -13.7% |
20 | 45 | Hamilton Locke | $3.22bn | +99.3% |
*USD-AUD exchange rate as at 19 July 2026
Deal Count
HSF Kramer took top spot by deal count, finishing on 52 deals, up from 47 a year earlier.
Mallesons dropped to 2nd with 46 deals, down from 55. Corrs Chambers Westgarth placed 3rd with 43 deals.
Ashurst Perkins Coie climbed to 4th with 40 deals. Thomsons rounded out the top five on 36 deals, down from 43.
Johnson Winter Slattery was the standout climber, jumping from 19th to 8th with 27 deals, up from 16.
1H26 | 1H25 | Law Firm | Deal Count | Count Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | HSF Kramer | 52 | +5 |
2 | 1 | Mallesons | 46 | -9 |
3 | 4 | Corrs Chambers Westgarth | 43 | -2 |
4 | 7 | Ashurst Perkins Coie | 40 | +2 |
5 | 5 | Thomsons | 36 | -7 |
6 | 10 | Gilbert & Tobin | 35 | +4 |
7 | 6 | Hamilton Locke | 28 | -11 |
8 | 19 | Johnson Winter Slattery | 27 | +11 |
9= | 7 | Allens | 22 | -16 |
9= | 2 | MinterEllison | 22 | -26 |
11 | 7 | HWL Ebsworth Lawyers | 21 | -17 |
12 | 20 | Maddocks | 18 | +5 |
13= | 14 | Clayton Utz | 16 | -5 |
13= | 20 | Talbot Sayer Lawyers | 16 | +3 |
15 | 26 | Dentons | 13 | +4 |
16= | 11 | DLA Piper | 12 | -15 |
16= | 13 | Mills Oakley Lawyers | 12 | -13 |
18 | 35 | Bell Gully | 11 | +6 |
19= | 47 | Russell McVeagh | 10 | +7 |
19= | 14 | Baker McKenzie | 10 | -11 |
The bigger picture
Total Australasian deal volume hit US$70.9bn (A$101.6bn) across 475 deals, up from US$68.8bn (A$98.6bn) across 622 deals in 1H25. Fewer deals, bigger price tags.
You can see that same story play out in the rankings.
International names like Latham, Cleary and Davis Polk are cracking the top 10 in the deal value table, likely off the back of a handful of outsized mandates. It’s a sign that a small number of mega-deals are doing the heavy lifting in H1 2026.
Globally, M&A surged 44% year-on-year to a record US$3.16tn in the first half — the highest first-half total ever recorded, with a record 48 megadeals over US$10bn totalling US$1.32tn.
Source: Mergermarket