Allen & Overy turns tables

City firm Allen & Overy has leapfrogged its rivals in what has been claimed as the definitive European merger and acquisition league table, which sees several US firms dropping down the rankings.

Commercial Lawyer magazine's table of primary advisers to the corporate clients in the top 100 M&A deals this year placed Linklaters & Alliance top both in terms of number of deals and their value, with 18 deals worth 160 billion.

The biggest mover compared with Thomson Financial and Mergermarket's other M&A tables is Allen & Overy, which has leapt from 16th place in the Thomson table and sixth in Mergermarket's to second with 13 deals worth 110 billion.

Commercial Lawyer claims that Thomson and Mergermarket are both flawed because they credit all firms with the full value of deals, without distinguishing those acting for corporate clients from thoseacting for financial advisers.

Other big movers benefiting from the new table are Slaughter and May and Simmons & Simmons, respectively given 13th place and no ranking at all by Thomson, they are ranked fourth and ninth by Commercial Lawyer.

Freshfields (third, 15 deals worth 86 billion) and Norton Rose (fifth, four deals worth 59 billion) make up the top five.

But US firms Shearman & Sterling fell from third with Thomson to 11th; Skadden Arps from fourth to 19th; and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett from ninth to 24th.Jeremy Fleming