Linklaters fends off US rivals to top M&A league

City giant Linklaters beat US rivals to top the world-wide merger and acquisitions (M&A) market last year, figures released this week show.

Analysts Thomson Financial found that Linklaters acted on 295 announced deals worldwide, worth $226 billion (141 billion) last year, virtually the same value as the year before, pushing it up from fifth.

It was also top in Europe.

Clifford Chance came second - soaring up from 13th - with 251 deals worth $203 billion, a 51% increase in value on 2001.

US firms Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Sullivan & Cromwell came third and fourth, with 187 deals at $173 billion and 111 deals at $147 billion respectively, with the fifth-placed firm - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher - lagging behind with 106 deals worth $115 billion.

Although Freshfields slipped from ninth to tenth (53 deals worth $101 billion), Ashurst Morris Crisp stormed from 32nd to 11th with 125 deals worth $79 billion (compared to a value of $38 billion in 2001).

Allen & Overy (187 deals worth $79 billion) went from 18th to 12th, while Herbert Smith, together with European allies Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe, stayed at 14th (119 deals worth $77 billion).

Slaughter and May slid from 16th to 18th (70 deals worth $60 billion).

Tony Angel, Linklaters' managing partner, said: 'In any legal tables you can have yearly discrepancies, but we're very pleased that we're consistently there or thereabouts.

It's a difficult market, and it's good that in such a difficult market we've managed to increase our market share.'

Thomson said the value of completed M&A deals globally fell 40% last year.

Jeremy Fleming