The law firms Hogan Lovells and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin topped two league tables devised by GlobalData after analysing the M&A that took place in the consumer sector in the first nine months of 2026.
According to GlobalData, Just Food’s parent, Hogan Lovells headed the charts when measuring the value of transactions while Fasken Martineau DuMoulin advised on the most deals.
Hogan Lovells worked on deals in the consumer sector worth just under $50bn combined. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin was appointed an adviser on 15 transactions.
Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, said: “There was a notable year-on-year increase in the number of deals advised by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin during the first three quarters of 2026. Its ranking by volume leapt from 21st position to the top position during this period. It held fifth position by value during Q1-Q3 2026.
“Meanwhile, Hogan Lovells led the table by value primarily due to its involvement in the $44.8bn merger of Unilever’s foods business with McCormick. In fact, of the top ten law firms by value, the top seven were involved in this high-value deal.”
When measuring the value of deals, Sullivan & Cromwell ranked second.
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin was not the only law firm to advise on 15 deals. Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis both worked on the same number.
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 the robustness of the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals advisers.
