What Big Law’s Top Deals Firm Expects for 2025 Markets (Podcast)

Jan. 21, 2025, 4:41 PM UTC

Donald Trump’s presidential election had market commenters rushing to conclude that the new administration would yield a flood of corporate dealmaking.

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But the widely anticipated Trump Bump for deals is already facing hurdles. Interest rates have steadily risen as the fear of inflation remains. Markets are buffeted by every piece of news about potential tariffs. And stock prices have faltered from their initial post-election surge.

With Trump now in the White House, has the optimism for a dealmaking surge already withered?

On this episode of On the Merits, Bloomberg Law’s Roy Strom spoke with Jennifer Perkins and David Klein, M&A partners at Kirkland & Ellis, the busiest law firm for corporate transactions last year. Kirkland advised on more than $427 billion in global mergers and acquisitions over the year, surpassing rivals like Latham & Watkins, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, and Freshfields.

Read more: For a list of the Top 20 firms and an interactive graphic with the deals they won, click here for Bloomberg Law’s mergers and acquisitions league tables

Perkins and Klein told Roy the “floodgates” for M&A may not be open right away, but they both expect a strong year for dealmaking ahead. They discussed a backlog of companies private equity funds are looking to offload, how a reinvigorated IPO market could further fuel deals, and how law firms are evolving as private capital markets expand.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Roy Strom in Chicago at rstrom@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Opfer at copfer@bloombergindustry.com

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