Ward Hadaway tops corporate dealmaker rankings for North East

The MarketIQ league tables from credit score firm Experian has recognised law firm Ward Hadaway as the busiest corporate dealmaker in the North East for the second year in a row.

The data used in the rankings tracks M&A deals valued at more than £500,000 at regional and national level and found Ward Hadaway to be the region’s busiest legal adviser and the 8th busiest nationally in 2019.

The Newcastle-based firm advised on 61 transactions in 2019 in the North East with a combined aggregated deal value of £817 million. Ward Hadaway also ranked well in the North West and Yorkshire where it has firms in Manchester and Leeds.

2019 saw the corporate team advising on a range of different projects, with a keen focus on the SME market.

Robert Thompson, who leads the corporate team, said: “We are extremely pleased to see Ward Hadaway has come out on top as the busiest law firm buying, selling and fundraising for businesses across the North East for the second year running.

“It is also great to see us punching well above our weight nationally, where we have jumped significantly up the national rankings, to 8th, making us one of the busiest corporate teams in the UK.

“We work with businesses of all sizes and across many different sectors, but we have a particular focus when it comes to SMEs. We are grateful to our clients for continuing to trust us with their transactions, and to our fellow professional advisers who recommend us to their customers.”