Linklaters set for No.1 spot in European M&A market

DEALS: four City firms make the top ten in annual tables

Linklaters is on course to top the annual European mergers and acquisitions league tables - completing 137 deals worth $518 billion (357 billion) in the first three quarters of this year.

Freshfields has slipped from its overall first place in 1999 to fourth place so far this year, with 114 deals worth $415 billion.

The tables, produced by Thomson Financial, placed Clifford Chance and Norton Rose at sixth and eighth places respectively; last year they were placed 11 and 16.

The rest of the top ten are all US firms, continuing the trend of the past few years.

Slaughter and May, in 13th place with 98 deals worth $152 billion, is slipping from its fifth position of last year.

Other UK firms in the list are Allen & Overy (16th), Macfarlanes (20th) and Herbert Smith (25th).

Linklaters is also currently ahead - and set to top the annual table - for completed and uncompleted acquisitions of UK companies only.

Slaughters has slipped in that table too.

It was the top firm last year, but is now in third place behind Freshfields following the results for this year's penultimate quarter.

Linklaters is acting for SmithKline Beecham, the target of Glaxo's multi-billion dollar bid; BP Amoco, in its bid for Burmah Castrol; and Luxemburg media player CLT-UFA which is bidding for Pearson Television.

Although global M&A figures for the third quarter rallied from a 32% drop in the second quarter, this was due to a 66% increase in the value of US deals - $562 billion in the third quarter.

The value of European deals fell by 35% in this quarter - down to $193 billion.

Jeremy Fleming