Cahill again places first as counsel to high-yield underwriters

• Simpson Thacher remains number one counsel for issuers

New York, Sept. 5 - Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP was once more the leading counsel to underwriters of high-yield bonds, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Cahill has led the year-to-date rankings for every month of this year as well as for 2012 and all the monthly year-to-date tables during 2012.

The firm has worked on $57.46 billion of deals so far this year, or 28.4% of the market. That share is up from 26.2% for the year through July.

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP placed second in the league tables, followed by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in third. Both firms have held those positions unchanged since May.

Shearman & Sterling was fourth for a second month. For the year through July it gained a place compared to the month before.

Latham & Watkins LLP was fifth, as for the year through July.

Among advisors to issuers, Simpson Thacher took the number one position, as it did in July, June and May.

There was no change in the second through fifth positions either. They were held by Vinson & Elkins LLP, Latham & Watkins, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

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. Emerging markets deals are excluded. The identity of legal advisers was not available for all deals, particularly those from emerging markets issuers.

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

2012 Comparables

	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	57.462	105	28.39%	1	60.358	101	31.84%
2	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	12.534	26	6.19%	3	15.943	30	8.41%
3	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	8.567	21	4.23%	2	16.429	31	8.67%
4	Shearman & Sterling LLP	8.550	18	4.22%	4	11.903	22	6.28%
5	Latham & Watkins LLP	7.894	18	3.90%	6	7.948	18	4.19%
6	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	4.215	7	2.08%	11	1.280	4	0.68%
7	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	3.434	12	1.70%	5	10.045	17	5.30%
8	Baker Botts LLP	2.381	5	1.18%	8	2.587	8	1.36%
9	Vinson & Elkins LLP	2.135	6	1.05%	9	2.531	6	1.34%
10	Paul Hastings LLP	1.925	5	0.95%
	Total	202.415	477	189.569	397
Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, August
					2012 Comparables
	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	3.450	8	27.98%	1	10.081	17	34.21%
2	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	0.800	2	6.49%	3	2.832	5	9.61%
3	Baker Botts LLP	0.706	2	5.73%
4	Latham & Watkins LLP	0.600	1	4.87%	5	1.953	3	6.63%
5	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	0.350	1	2.84%	4	2.204	3	7.48%
6	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	0.250	1	2.03%
7	Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP	0.209	1	1.70%
8	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	0.153	1	1.24%	10	0.450	1	1.53%
	Total	12.329	40	29.469	53
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, year to date
					2012 Comparables
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	12.551	27	6.20%	8	4.362	11	2.30%
2	Vinson & Elkins LLP	5.979	11	2.95%	4	6.049	18	3.19%
3	Latham & Watkins LLP	5.468	10	2.70%	10	2.958	7	1.56%
4	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	4.988	9	2.46%	7	4.453	7	2.35%
5	Debevoise & Plimpton LLP	4.439	8	2.19%	5	5.377	11	2.84%
6	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	2.998	6	1.48%	13	1.875	3	0.99%
7	Shearman & Sterling LLP	2.920	5	1.44%	6	4.567	9	2.41%
8	Dechert LLP	2.472	7	1.22%
9	Paul Hastings LLP	2.350	6	1.16%
10	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	2.300	3	1.14%	11	2.102	3	1.11%
	Total	202.415	477	189.569	397
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, August
					2012 Comparables
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Sullivan & Worcester LLP	0.600	1	4.87%	17	0.500	1	1.70%
2	Paul Hastings LLP	0.475	2	3.85%
3	Latham & Watkins LLP	0.406	1	3.29%	6	1.064	2	3.61%
4	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	0.400	1	3.24%
5	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	0.350	1	2.84%	18	0.138	1	0.47%
6	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP	0.300	1	2.43%
7	Sidley Austin LLP	0.250	1	2.03%	13	0.625	1	2.12%
8	Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP	0.209	1	1.70%
9	Goodwin Procter LLP	0.153	1	1.24%
	Total	12.329	40	29.469	53
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.

• Emerging markets deals 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.