Cahill Gordon remains leading high-yield underwriter's counsel; Debevoise No. 1 issuer's counsel

New York, Oct. 3 - Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP was once more the clear leader among counsel to underwriters of high-yield bonds, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Cahill again placed number one for the year to date, as it has for every month this year apart from January. The firm advised on $69.09 billion of deals, 29.45% of the market.

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP was second, with $22.02 billion of deals.

For issuer's counsel, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP was the leader, displacing Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, which had previously led among external legal advisers. Debevoise was also ahead of in-house attorneys by a very slim margin, the first time this year that in-house counsel has not placed first.

Sullivan & Cromwell was second among external advisers.

The Prospect News tables for all issuers are excluding emerging markets deals starting this month.

The tables cover high-yield bond deals offered in the United States via a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission or under Rule 144A. The identity of legal advisers was not available for all deals, particularly those from emerging markets issuers.

Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, all issuers, year to date

	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	69.085	118	29.45%
2	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	22.015	37	9.38%
3	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	18.829	37	8.03%
4	Shearman & Sterling LLP	14.103	25	6.01%
5	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	10.045	17	4.28%
6	Latham & Watkins LLP	9.473	20	4.04%
7	Vinson & Elkins LLP	3.281	8	1.40%
8	Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP	2.988	9	1.27%
9	Baker Botts LLP	2.794	9	1.19%
10	Andrews Kurth LLP	2.351	5	1.00%
	Total	234.623	484
Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, U.S. issuers, year to date
	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	65.008	109	31.96%
2	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	15.944	31	7.84%
3	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	15.750	32	7.74%
4	Shearman & Sterling LLP	10.364	19	5.09%
5	Latham & Watkins LLP	9.473	20	4.66%
6	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	9.255	15	4.55%
7	Vinson & Elkins LLP	3.281	8	1.61%
8	Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP	2.988	9	1.47%
9	Baker Botts LLP	2.794	9	1.37%
10	Andrews Kurth LLP	2.351	5	1.16%
	Total	203.423	426
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, all issuers, year to date
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	Debevoise & Plimpton LLP	9.064	13	3.86%
2	In house	9.056	29	3.86%
3	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	7.700	7	3.28%
4	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	7.462	17	3.18%
5	Vinson & Elkins LLP	6.756	20	2.87%
6	Kirkland & Ellis LLP	6.440	10	2.74%
7	Shearman & Sterling LLP	5.117	10	2.18%
8	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	4.453	7	1.90%
9	Latham & Watkins LLP	4.308	9	1.84%
10	Baker Botts LLP	3.296	8	1.41%
	Total	234.623	484
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, U.S. issuers, year to date
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	In house	9.056	29	4.45%
2	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	7.700	7	3.79%
3	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	7.462	17	3.67%
4	Vinson & Elkins LLP	6.658	19	3.27%
5	Kirkland & Ellis LLP	6.440	10	3.17%
6	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	4.453	7	2.19%
7	Latham & Watkins LLP	4.308	9	2.12%
8	Debevoise & Plimpton LLP	4.063	9	2.00%
9	Baker Botts LLP	3.296	8	1.62%
10	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	2.102	3	1.23%
	Total	203.423	426
Prospect News High Yield Counsel Rankings

Criteria

• The tables include all underwritten dollar-denominated offerings sold in the United States as public or Rule 144A deals reported to Prospect News.

• Convertibles, trust preferreds, capital securities and preferred stock are excluded.

• Deals rated investment grade by either Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service are excluded, but deals not rated by both are included.

• Offerings are included in the time period in which they price.

• Amounts are based on the total sales price (face amount multiplied by the offering price). The full amount is credited to the issuer's counsel or underwriter's counsel. For multiple firms, the total value is divided equally.

• Units made up of a bond and a warrant are included; other units are excluded.

• Sovereign issues are excluded.

• Each tranche is counted as a separate deal.

• Passthroughs, collateral trust and equipment trust certificates are included.

• Best efforts and non-underwritten deals are excluded as are remarketings.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.