Linklaters has confirmed its status as a leading securities firm after once against topping independent annual rankings for global equity capital markets work.

The figures, compiled by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) magazine and information provider Dealogic, show Linklaters in the top spot for number of deals closed, having advised on 30 equity offerings over the 12-month period to 30 June, 2002.

In joint second place come New York firms Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Davis Polk & Wardwell with 12 deals each.

Major deals Linklaters worked on include advising the book-runners on the £1.2bn offering of Gas Natural and Xstrata's £1.9bn issue.

However, the top slots are reversed in terms of deal value with Clearys taking pole position, having presided over a total deal value of £10.4bn, and Linklaters coming in at number two with a combined value of £9.2bn.

However, the sluggish state of the public offerings market is underlined by the results, with most of the ranked firms seeing less than half the number of deals they won in the 2000-01 survey.

Last year's IFLR research showed Linklaters closing 62 equity deals with a total value of (£29.3bn).

The results complement a commanding corporate performance from Linklaters, with research from Thomson Financial and Mergermarket this month showing the firm as the top ranked adviser for global and European M&A in the first three-quarters of 2002.

"Our success reflects our multi-jurisdictional expertise in this area and the continued investment in our relationship with investment banking clients," said Linklaters capital markets partner Stephen Edelmann.

Other leading London firms to score highly in the rankings include Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, advising on 16 deals with a value of £5.4bn, and Clifford Chance with 15 deals worth £6.93bn. The firms were ranked joint fourth and sixth on volume respectively.

Slaughter and May was ranked ninth on volume, advising on 10 deals, one place ahead of Allen & Overy's tally of nine deals.