Hogan Lovells Leads Consumer M&A by Deal Value
GlobalData's league tables rank law firms by consumer-sector mergers and acquisitions in the first nine months of 2026.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Consumer Goods
Hogan Lovells ranked first by consumer-sector M&A deal value in the first nine months of 2026, advising on deals worth just under $50bn combined. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin ranked first by deal volume, advising on 15 consumer-sector transactions.
Why it matters
The rankings show how a single large transaction can shape law firm standings by value, while volume rankings reflect a different distribution of work. GlobalData's tables track activity across the consumer sector for the period.
Hogan Lovells' deal value of just under $50bn was driven largely by its role in the $44.8bn merger of Unilever's foods business with McCormick. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin's climb from 21st to first by deal volume is measured against the first three quarters of 2025, and the source does not address how the rankings would look on a different baseline.
The players
Hogan Lovells
An international law firm that topped the consumer-sector M&A deal value table for the period.
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
An international law firm that ranked first by consumer-sector M&A deal volume after rising from 21st position.
Sullivan & Cromwell
A U.S. law firm that ranked second by consumer-sector M&A deal value in the first nine months of 2026.
GlobalData
A London-based data and analytics company that publishes sector league tables based on tracking thousands of sources.
The details
Sullivan & Cromwell ranked second by deal value, while Fasken Martineau DuMoulin held fifth position by value during the first three quarters of 2026. GlobalData's analysts monitor sources to gather adviser details for each deal, and the firm invites submissions of deals and advisers to strengthen its data.
Timeline
First three quarters of 2025: baseline period for Fasken's volume ranking comparison.
First nine months of 2026: period covered by the consumer-sector league tables.
Market Landscape
GlobalData's league tables track consumer-sector M&A advisers using real-time monitoring of thousands of sources, so the rankings reflect the full range of deal activity rather than a curated list. The 2026 results show a sharp divide between firms that lead on value through a single mega-deal and firms that lead on transaction count across many smaller deals.
Companies in the consumer sector that are weighing a sale, merger or acquisition can use these adviser rankings to compare firms by deal value and by transaction volume. Reader-level effects on pricing or product availability are not addressed in the source.
The takeaway
Adviser rankings can look very different depending on whether value or volume is measured, so readers comparing firms should check which metric a league table uses before drawing conclusions.
Further reading
Explore more Consumer Goods coverage to see how dealmaking shapes the sector.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Just-food.
