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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has cemented its reputation as Europe's top funds firm, after advising on four of the region's 10 biggest fundraisings of the year so far.

The firm scooped roles on private equity funds raising a total of €16.6 billion, according to bespoke data from Preqin compiled for Legal Week. Mandates included the year's biggest fund so far, Cinven VII, which raised €10 billion. In total, the 10 funds' value hit €25.6 billion.

The firm also advised on capital raisings for Astorg VII, Oakley Capital Private Equity IV, and CapVest Equity Partners Fund IV.

Clifford Chance, meanwhile, advised on two of the top 10 funds – Keensight V and Eurazeo Capital IV, both of which are managed out of France.

Other firms to have advised on top European fundraisings include Goodwin Procter, which took a role on Five Arrows Principal Investments III, Ashurst for Altor Fund V, Macfarlanes for Novalpina Capital Partners I, and K&L Gates for Paragon Partners III.

Simpson Thacher managing partner Jason Glover commented: "An interesting thing about each of these funds is that all four were effectively raised in a single closing, whereas normally you would expect multiple closings over a period of months. As a result, all of these funds were raised in a very short timeframe of a few months, as compared to the more usual nine to 12 months from launch."

When asked why this was happening, Glover said: "I think it's because investors are very keen on this asset class and in particular investing with fund managers who have generated historic top-quartile performance. Each of the funds was oversubscribed and that in turn drives the speed of fundraising, with investors worried that unless they secure participation in such funds quickly, then they will miss out."