CC leads the European rankings by both volume and value in the 2007 Q3 results, advising on 219 deals worth a total value of Ä431.9bn (£298.5bn), according to Mergermarket figures provided exclusively to Legal Week.
The results underline a strong period for CC, which has advised on transactions including the £6.15bn merger between the Automobile Association and Saga and on Candover’s $2bn (£1bn) bid for Dutch manufacturer Stork.
Linklaters has risen to second place by both volume and value. The firm scored a key role on one of the biggest deals of the year so far, advising a Royal Bank of Scotland consortium which this week won the Ä72bn (£49.7bn) battle for Dutch banking giant ABN Amro. In total it advised on 199 deals worth a combined Ä391bn (£270bn) during 2007.
Magic circle rival Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has fallen to third by volume, and is fifth by value after Allen & Overy (A&O) and Sullivan & Cromwell respectively.
CC also topped the
In the last three months the global number of announced deals fell 40% to 3,086, from 5,101 in the second quarter of 2007, and the total value of deals dropped 5% from $897.8bn (£440.3bn) to $852.6bn (£418.2bn).
The figures show a growing number of deals have collapsed in the last nine months. Just 7,883 of the 10,387 global transactions announced so far this year have reached completion. This represents a 16% drop on the same period last year, when 9,351 had been completed.
Linklaters head of corporate David Barnes said: “It has been a year of two halves. The first half has been driven by a liquidity boom, with corporates generally flush with cash, and now in this second half the deals are slower and smaller. There is still a fair amount of work around, particularly that driven by consortia, but a lot of work has moved towards less affected markets such as
Freshfields M&A partner Laurie McFadden told Legal Week: “The last few months have been somewhat challenging for people relying on debt. The question is how much will be offered for sale at this stage and how sellers re-adjust their price expectations. While the market digests the changes, the coming quarter will certainly be interesting.”
A&O head of corporate Richard Cranfield commented: “Cautious optimism is the watch-word. A number of deals that were put on hold over the summer — partly due to the break and partly the credit crunch — have been restarted. It is too early to say if this is a general trend but there is generally more optimism than a month ago.”
Elsewhere, Sullivan leads the global league table advising on 132 deals worth $778.3bn (£383.4bn), $119.5bn (£58.9bn) ahead of the next placed firm, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, which advised on 206 deals worth $658.8bn (£324.6bn). CC came third. Latham & Watkins topped the tables by volume.
