Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has topped the UK and European M&A adviser rankings by deal value in the first half of 2015 – a period that saw global deal value soar to the highest H1 figure since the same period in 2007.

Data exclusively provided to Legal Week by Mergermarket shows that Freshfields advised on 64 deals in Europe in the first half of 2015 worth a combined $173.7bn (£112.9bn), placing it top in Europe for deal value and sixth in terms of deal volume.

It also led the way in the UK by value, acting on 35 deals worth $152.5bn (£99.2bn). The results are a repeat of the firm's performance during the same period last year, when it came first in Europe and the UK by deal value. Key deals for Freshfields so far in 2015 include advising BT on its $19bn (£12.9bn) takeover of EE.

Allen & Overy (A&O) tops the volume rankings in Europe and comes in third place by value – advising on 99 deals worth $140.2bn (£91.2bn) in the first half of the year.

It also performed strongly in the UK, acting on 34 transactions worth $97.7bn ($63.6bn).

Globally, US firms put in the strongest performance – taking nine of the top 10 spots in the rankings by value. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom was the number one firm in the world by value, advising on 119 transactions valued at $349.4bn (£227.1bn) in the first six months of 2015.

Global perspectives

Global deal value over the period hit $1,702bn (£1,108bn), the closest the market has come to the H1 peak of $2,078bn (£1,352bn) carried out in the first half of 2007.

In contrast global deal volumes were down to 6,994 in the first half of 2015, compared with 8,460 in 2014.

Piers Prichard Jones, Freshfields London corporate co-head, says: "The headlines tell us that M&A is booming globally but the headlines don't really reflect the M&A market in Europe. Global M&A is largely being driven by the US and Europe is not currently at the same level."

The biggest deal of 2015 so far was Shell's £47bn acquisition of BG Group, which was announced in April. Shell turned to Slaughter and May while Freshfields led for BG. Cravath Swaine & Moore and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek advised Shell on US and Dutch law issues respectively.

Ashurst's global co-head of corporate, competition and tax, Simon Beddow, says the global M&A market suffered from a "general malaise" in the first quarter of the year. "In the UK you could point to uncertainty caused by the election, but we saw it across Europe, Asia and Australia."

Both deal value and deal volume fell in Europe in the first half of 2015, compared to the equivalent period in 2014. In the first two quarters of 2015 2,539 deals valued at $450bn (£293bn) took place, compared to 3,275 deals valued at $489bn (£318bn) in the first half of 2014.

Linklaters corporate partner Nick Rumsby argues that, while the US is currently the engine of the global M&A market, the buoyancy there will translate to Europe. "US corporate confidence is strong and that confidence is slowly but surely feeding its ways across the Atlantic and into UK and European markets," he says.

The UK outperformed the global trend with the value of transactions in the first half of 2015 exceeding even that of 2007. The figures show that $202bn (£131bn) of deals were announced in the first half of 2015, compared with the previous high of $180bn (£117bn) in H1 2007. But, like the global and European figures, deal volume in the UK was also stubbornly low at 580 deals, compared with 806 in the first half of 2007 – the busiest first half on record.

Partners agree that macro-economic factors such as low interest rates and available finance were drivers of the robust global markets in H1 2015. They point out that with the Bank of England holding interest rates at 0.5% and the US Federal Reserve's rate pegged at 0.25% for the present, shareholders are willing to allow companies to use cash to chase growth through acquisitions.

Slaughters' head of corporate, Andy Ryde, says companies' appetites for M&A remain strong because "balance sheets are strong; the cash hasn't been spent".

Linklaters London head of corporate Stuart Bedford adds: "There is a pressure to use it or give it back but at the moment investors don't want the money because they will have to find another home for it."

The sectors that have benefitted most from the increased confidence in H1 are the energy, technology and consumer sectors, all of which had a strong first half of the year globally, accounting for $307.1bn (£199.6bn), $198.3bn (£128.9bn) and $197.8bn (£128.6bn) of deals respectively.

Telecoms also saw a lot of activity, accounting for three of the top five transactions in Europe in H1, including BT's takeover of EE, Hutchison Whampoa's $15.3bn (£9.9bn) acquisition of Telefonica's O2 and Nokia's $15.3bn (£9.9bn) buyout of Alcatel-Lucent.

Future outlook
Confidence is relatively high for the rest of the year despite potential political risks, including the Greek debt crisis and the UK EU referendum.

Ryde is positive about the prospects for the year: "We expect M&A activity to come back strongly and anticipate an uptick after the summer."

A&O London corporate head Richard Browne adds: "I am very confident about where the market is going. I think where we are sitting our pipeline looks very strong; we feel we've got some momentum in the market and we are doing the sort of deals we want to be doing."

However, Prichard Jones is more cautious: "All the conditions are present for increased M&A activity in Europe over the course of this calendar year, subject to one material caveat: the Greece situation. It's difficult to predict what impact this will have but a slowdown in M&A activity is a real possibility."