| Standout | Cravath, Swaine & Moore | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Devised the structure for three transformative transactions worth $80.5bn for Mylan, the pharmaceuticals company, while ensuring that the structure received shareholder approval. Commended: Mark Greene. |
| Standout | Latham & Watkins, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Representing Allergan, the firms combined boardroom and courtroom tactics to fight a $46bn hostile takeover bid and later took the client into a $70.5bn acquisition. Commended: Paul Tosetti, Cary Hyden, David Katz. |
| Standout | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom | 8 | 9 | 9 | 26 | Devised a novel auction structure for Hillshire Brands during the “meat wars” that required bidders to make unilateral and irrevocable binding offers. It resulted in Hillshire’s sale for $8.6bn. |
| Highly commended | Cooley | 9 | 8 | 8 | 25 | The firm developed a legal template for applications for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operators to act as commercial entities and secure exemption from national airspace rules. |
| Highly commended | Kirkland & Ellis | 8 | 8 | 9 | 25 | Provided strategic guidance for Burger King through its $11.4bn merger with Tim Hortons to create the third largest fast-food chain in the world. Commended: William Sorabella. |
| Highly commended | Mayer Brown | 9 | 8 | 8 | 25 | The firm responded to the poor performance of 401k retirement plans by helping to create alternative investment vehicles, giving access to high-performance funds. |
| Highly commended | Sullivan & Cromwell | 7 | 9 | 9 | 25 | The firm structured a $55bn merger between Kraft and Heinz that ensured neither party had to refinance any outstanding notes and closed in three months without leaking. |
| Highly commended | Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg | 8 | 7 | 9 | 24 | As Canadian counsel to Burger King in its acquisition of Tim Hortons, the firm helped reinvent the conventional Canadian exchangeable share structure. |
| Highly commended | Goodwin Procter | 7 | 9 | 8 | 24 | Created a deal structure that enabled Roche to take a major shareholding in Foundation Medicine, a smaller oncology company, but give FM operational independence. |
| Highly commended | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Advised Dan Doctoroff, former deputy mayor of New York, on new ventures to modernise cities through three separate but simultaneous deals. Commended: Kenneth Schneider. |
| Highly commended | Weil, Gotshal & Manges | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Helped Kinder Morgan to streamline its corporate structure for future acquisitions by engineering three deals worth $76bn. Commended: Michael Aiello. |
| Commended | Morrison & Foerster | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 | Represented Imprint Capital Advisors in its sale to Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Commended: Susan Mac Cormac. |
| Commended | Sullivan & Cromwell | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | Lawyers, entering the deal mid-bid and without access to prior work product, helped Teva
simultaneously acquire Allergan Generics and withdraw its proposal to acquire Mylan. |
| Commended | White & Case | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 | Represented Zimmer Holdings, the orthopaedic manufacturer, in its $14bn acquisition of Biomet from private equity owners. |
| Commended | Allen & Overy | 6 | 8 | 8 | 22 | Lawyers addressed competition concerns in Imperial Tobacco's acquisition of certain brands from Reynolds-American to allow the $7.1bn deal to progress smoothly. |
| Commended | Baker McKenzie | 7 | 8 | 7 | 22 | Operating across more than 50 countries, the firm helped to execute one of the largest 10 spinoffs in North American corporate history to create a $21bn company. |
| Commended | Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enriquez | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | Helped Concentadora Hipotecaria, the financial services company, set up a pioneering mortgage real estate investment trust in Mexico and Latin America. |
| Commended | Dechert | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 | Advised and minimised risk for Wells Fargo bank in relation to its agreement to purchase 250 commercial real estate loans located in five jurisdictions from GE Capital Real Estate. |
| Commended | Hogan Lovells | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 | Used a complex "forward" Morris Trust in a $5bn deal that created Orbital ATK, an aerospace and defence technology company under unusual circumstances – including an exploding rocket. |
| Commended | Paul Hastings | 7 | 8 | 7 | 22 | Created a corporate governance structure for the world’s largest satellite constellation that aligned the interests of nine global companies. |
| Commended | Shearman & Sterling | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | In order to allow investment in cable company Liberty Global's Latin America and Caribbean business, the firm advised on the creation of a new security under English law. |
| Commended | Baker McKenzie | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | Represented the Carbon Trade Exchange on its move to California's carbon market and its entry into a relationship with Minneapolis Grain Exchange. |
| Commended | Dechert | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | Acted for Celgene Corporation, a global pharmaceutical company, in negotiating a $1bn, 10- year collaboration with developer Juno Therapeutics. |
| Commended | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison | 6 | 7 | 8 | 21 | Lawyers worked quickly to set up a competitive bidding process for Time Warner Cable's $78.7bn merger with Charter Communications. Commended: Robert Schumer. |
| Commended | Vinson & Elkins | 6 | 7 | 8 | 21 | Advised Riverstone Holdings on structuring a complex $9.5bn Reverse Morris Trust transaction that led to the creation of Talen Energy Corporation, an independent power producer. |
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