Key Takeaways
- • Sterlington PLLC ranked third among law firms advising US targets and sellers in private equity M&A exit transactions in Mergermarket's FY2025 league tables, up from eighth in FY2024.
- • Sterlington ranked sixth globally in the same Mergermarket private equity M&A exit rankings, up from 24th in FY2024.
- • The rankings follow the firm's role advising Vantage Data Centers' management team on a $9.2 billion equity investment, which earned a TMT Finance Deal of the Year award.
- • Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis lead both the US and global exit rankings, with Sterlington placing among a small group of firms handling the largest and most complex exits.
Summary
Sterlington PLLC has moved up sharply in Mergermarket's FY2025 league tables for private equity M&A exit transactions, according to a company press release distributed by Business Wire. The firm ranked third among law firms advising US targets and sellers, up from eighth in FY2024, and sixth in global rankings, up from 24th the prior year.
In the US exits ranking by value, Latham & Watkins LLP placed first, followed by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Sterlington, and White & Case LLP. Paul Hastings LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP completed the top ten. In the global exits ranking, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis again held the top two positions, followed by Freshfields LLP, White & Case LLP, Weil Gotshal & Manges, and Sterlington.
The release says the firm's placement reflects its involvement in some of the largest and most complex private equity exit transactions, and that it regularly advises founders and management teams on high-stakes M&A and liquidity events. The rankings follow Sterlington's role advising the management team of Vantage Data Centers on a $9.2 billion equity investment, a transaction that earned the firm recognition in the TMT Finance Deal of the Year award.
Managing Partner Christopher S. Harrison said the firm is "operating at the top of the market, across from the best firms in the world," and credited the rankings to the scale and sophistication of its transactions. The figures are company-reported and reflect the firm's own characterization of its standing in the Mergermarket data.
In the US exits ranking by value, Latham & Watkins LLP placed first, followed by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Sterlington, and White & Case LLP. Paul Hastings LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP completed the top ten. In the global exits ranking, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis again held the top two positions, followed by Freshfields LLP, White & Case LLP, Weil Gotshal & Manges, and Sterlington.
The release says the firm's placement reflects its involvement in some of the largest and most complex private equity exit transactions, and that it regularly advises founders and management teams on high-stakes M&A and liquidity events. The rankings follow Sterlington's role advising the management team of Vantage Data Centers on a $9.2 billion equity investment, a transaction that earned the firm recognition in the TMT Finance Deal of the Year award.
Managing Partner Christopher S. Harrison said the firm is "operating at the top of the market, across from the best firms in the world," and credited the rankings to the scale and sophistication of its transactions. The figures are company-reported and reflect the firm's own characterization of its standing in the Mergermarket data.
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