Mergermarket Q3 league: Linklaters dominates as A&O puts in confident showing

Top UK and US law firms dominate the latest European M&A rankings for Q3 2008 – a period in which global deal volume fell by 36% compared with the same quarter the previous year.

The latest research from Legal Week's data provider, Mergermarket, shows the magic circle taking the top positions by value and volume for European M&A, with New York leaders also featuring highly.

By value Linklaters heads the European league table over the quarter, acting on deals worth €119.8bn (£93.4bn) – a 150% increase on Q2, despite the firm's deal volume falling from 60 to 44 over the period.

Allen & Overy (A&O) also saw the value of its mandates more than double over the quarter to hit €114.8bn (£89.5bn), with the magic circle firm also picking up eight more M&A instructions than in Q2.

The big-ticket mandates during Q3 mean that Linklaters and A&O also take the first and second spots in the European M&A value tables looking at the year to date. The rest of the Q1-Q3 top five by value is made up of firms from across the pond with Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and McCarthy Tetrault taking places three to five.

With US law firms, including Latham & Watkins, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, featuring in the European rankings, the tables demonstrate the traditional flight to quality often seen during economic downturns. Despite the significant tail-off in overall M&A activity, larger firms have seen a smaller reduction in deal levels.

By volume, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer tops the European tables – advising on 53 announced deals during Q3, taking its total tally across Q1-Q3 to 168 to claim first place, up from third place at year-end 2007. The haul means it advised on only six fewer deals during Q3 than during Q2 and only 10 fewer than Q3 2007, despite the credit crisis.

Firms including Lovells and Herbert Smith also raised their rankings by value and volume in Europe, with Lovells jumping from 50th place at year-end 2007 to seventh by value over Q1-Q3 2008.

Gareth Roberts, a corporate partner at Herbert Smith, told Legal Week: "Instability tends to create work and generally there is a flight to quality, so the traditionally strong corporate practices will not see a dramatic drop in work."

Large firms have been bolstered by a stream of financial services deals, with rafts of top law firms picking up mandates on matters such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Merrill Lynch takeover by Bank of America and Lloyds TSB's £12bn rescue of HBOS.

Other firms, including Herbert Smith, Slaughter and May, Clifford Chance (CC), Lovells and Sullivan & Cromwell, picked up roles on another key European mandate of Q3 – EDF's £12bn takeover of British Energy.

Linklaters corporate head David Barnes (pictured) said: "There are chunky deals coming out of financial institutions, but away from that the resources sector is set for more consolidation, as is the retail and leisure industry. That work will continue through the next two quarters but, beyond that, it is difficult to tell."

The flight to quality is also seen within the UK M&A rankings, which are again dominated by the top 10 City firms, and a handful of US and international players by value. By volume, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Pinsent Masons, Osborne Clarke and Travers Smith are the only firms to feature in the UK rankings outside the top 10 City firms.

The data also shows the extent of the collapse of the buyout markets. Global buyout activity stood at just $48.2bn (£27.3bn) for Q3 2008 compared with $127.7bn (£72.3bn) during the same period last year and $401bn (£227.8bn) during Q2 2007. CC maintained its place at the top of the European buyout tables by value and volume.

One private equity partner said: "For the buyout market to kick back into action we need to see general confidence restored as well as a significant amount of liquidity back in the market."

For more analysis, see Editor's Blog: Bullish, bearish and clueless….

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