Luthra and Amarchand make top 10 as record run for India and Asia deals drives projects value to $354bn

Linklaters has topped Dealogic's 2010 global project finance rankings by value, working on 37 mandates worth an aggregated $23.1bn (£14.6bn).

The score sees Linklaters head the table above India's Luthra & Luthra, which worked on 25 deals worth $22.5bn (£14.2bn), and Allen & Overy (A&O), which came third by value but topped the rankings by volume with roles on 59 global deals worth $20.1bn (£12.7bn). The leader of the 2009 rankings by value, Latham & Watkins, fell to ninth place.

Both A&O and Linklaters picked up key mandates on the largest project of 2010 – the Saudi Arabia-based $14.2bn (£8.9bn) Jubail 2 Export Refinery project.

According to Dealogic, overall global project finance reached a record $354.6bn (£223bn) in 2010, which was 22% higher than in 2009 and 11% higher than 2008.

India was the most active country, with 163 projects worth a total of $81.4bn (£51.3bn), explaining the high rankings of Luthra as well as Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co, which was sixth by value, advising on 19 deals worth $11bn (£6.9bn).

Asian project finance activity was generally on the rise during the year, with 254 projects worth $129.8bn (£81.8bn) – a 31% increase on 2009 – while activity in the Middle East and Africa region rose by 18% to $48.5bn (£30.6bn). However, Latin America saw a fall in activity, with the value of deals in the region dropping by 56% to $14.9bn (£9.4bn).

Energy was the most popular sector for project finance, accounting for one third of the total projects worth $117bn (£73.7bn), while infrastructure was second, with projects hitting $110.5bn (£69.6bn).

A&O global head of projects Anne Baldock commented: "2010 was a very good year for us. We are able to pull together our global coverage and network and also help existing clients enter new markets. Asia and the Middle East were certainly on the rise and we expect this to continue this year."

Linklaters projects partner John Pickett (pictured) commented: "Our strength lies in having a combined project and finance offering in the same team and our breadth of industry and geographical coverage. We had a busy year with a number of key mandates and saw a noticeable pick-up in Africa work."