Blake Cassels & Graydon, Uria Menendez and Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira are among the independent firms emerging as the top M&A advisers of 2013 by volume.

The trio each advised on in excess of 40 domestic deals in the 12 months leading to September 2013, according to Legal Week's exclusive data provider Mergermarket. 

Canada's Blakes topped the volume rankings after advising on 87 deals, which were valued at a total of £16.1bn.

The top three by volume is rounded out by Canadian peers Stikeman Elliott and Osler Hoskin & Harcourt, which took roles on 85 and 71 deals respectively.

Blakes chair Brock Gibson said: "We saw good performance in M&A in relation to real estate, energy and mining, and even in the technology sector, which has seen an increase in tech-driven deals. We are optimistic that these trends will continue into the next year." 

Uria Menendez took roles on 47 deals, while fellow Spanish firm Cuatrecasas advised on 40.

Uria Menendez managing partner Luis de Carlos said: "We have been particularly busy in the last quarter. This year, we're seeing increased confidence from investors that I think will continue as more international funds are looking at opportunities in Spain." 

Key deals Uria advised on over the past year include representing domestic lenders including Santander on their investment in SAREB, Spain's 'bad bank'.

Meanwhile, Canadian firm Torys and Germany's Hengeler Mueller were among the top deal advisers by value. Torys advised on 46 deals valued at a total of £29.2bn, while Hengeler took roles on transactions worth a total £27.3bn.

Hengeler co-managing partner Matthias Hentzen said: "People are approaching transactions much more carefully, since compliance has extended to M&A and risks have increased in the aftermath of the crisis. But deal activity has gone up again, even if some transactions get stuck." 

In the past year, the firm advised on several high-profile deals in Germany including Vodafone's €7.7bn (£6.4bn) takeover of Kabel Deutschland and property developer Deutsche Wohnen's £3.3bn acquisition of real estate company GSW Immobilien.