Akin Gump Named “Law Firm of the Year” by M&A Advisor Magazine

(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has been named “Law Firm of the Year” by The M&A Advisor for the firm’s work over the past year in middle-market mergers and acquisitions. The M&A Advisor, a leading industry publication geared to buyers and sellers of middle-market companies, held its 5th Annual M&A Advisor Awards ceremony at The New York Athletic Club in New York on December 11.

Over the last 12 months, Akin Gump completed 46 middle-market M&A transactions, demonstrating an impressive success rate in aggressively closing deals. In 2006 the firm also expanded its private equity practice to support various types of middle-market M&A transactions. Akin Gump added 15 experienced attorneys to the group, and this growth strategy has broadened the firm’s expertise in the manufacturing, health care and BPO sectors, all of which have experienced active consolidation in the past year. At the same time, the firm has fostered many long-standing client relationships that have contributed to its recurring role in numerous transactions.

R. Bruce McLean, Akin Gump’s chairman, said, “We are honored to receive this award recognizing the firm’s outstanding work in advising our clients on mergers and acquisitions. Our steadfast client relationships and deal-making abilities have helped place our attorneys at the forefront of the middle-market M&A industry.”

J. Kenneth Menges Jr., head of Akin Gump’s corporate finance mergers and acquisitions practice, added, “We made a strategic decision to reorganize our corporate practice to focus on specific industries and markets, and this has clearly paid dividends for our clients as well as for our firm. We are delighted to see our hard work recognized by The M&A Advisor.”

The M&A Advisor’s 5th Annual M&A Award winners were judged on their ability to demonstrate a substantial propensity to accomplish transactions, including the number and volume of deals and the overall impact on the middle-market.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 900 lawyers with offices in Austin, Brussels, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Taipei and Washington. The firm has a diversified practice and represents regional, national and international clients in a wide range of areas, including antitrust; appellate; banking and finance; capital markets; communications and information technology; corporate and securities; corporate governance; employee benefits; energy; entertainment and media; environmental; estate planning, wealth transfer and probate; financial restructuring; global security; government contracts; health; insurance; intellectual property; international trade; investment funds; labor and employment; land use; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; private equity; privatization; project development and finance; public law and policy; real estate development and finance; Russia/CIS; tax; and technology.

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