Linklaters has enjoyed triple success in the 2008 year-end M&A rankings by topping global league tables with Mergermarket, Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters.
Mergermarket ranks Linklaters as the leading legal M&A adviser for global announced deals by value, having acted on 267 deals totalling US$728.566bn in 2008. The firm also tops Mergermarket’s league tables for global buyouts, European, European mid-market, Asia Pacific (excl. Japan), UK and Benelux announced deals. In addition, Linklaters was placed first for European and French announced M&A deals by volume.
Linklaters leads the Bloomberg tables by deal value for global announced deals - counsel to principals, cross-border, global financial, Asia Pacific (excl. Japan), Hong Kong & China, and UK announced deals. Bloomberg also ranks Linklaters highest for Europe announced deals and Europe announced deals - counsel to principals by both value and volume, and French announced deals by volume.
Thomson Reuters positions Linklaters top for worldwide, Asia (excl. Japan), European, European financials, European energy and power, UK, French and Benelux announced deals by value. Linklaters also ranks first for European, French and German completed deals by value.
David Barnes, global head of corporate, said:
“The market has changed dramatically throughout 2008 and we have seen a decline in the total value and volume of deals. Despite these challenging conditions, Linklaters has acted on some of the most high-profile and complex transactions. Our strong performance in the league tables highlights our strength across regions and sectors and is evidence of our market-leading position for complex and cross-border M&A.”
Key deals that Linklaters acted on this year include advising:
- Rio Tinto on its defence against the hostile takeover announced by BHP Billiton
- Merrill Lynch, outside of the US and excluding antitrust, as the target in the acquisition by Bank of America Corp
- Lloyds TSB Group plc on its recommended acquisition of HBOS plc
- Fortis on the investments by the Government of Belgium, Government of the Netherlands and Government of Luxembourg
- The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds TSB Group on the capital-raising underwritten by the Government
- China Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited on its merger with China Unicom Limited
- Scottish & Newcastle plc as the target in the takeover by Carlsberg A/S and Heineken N.V.
- Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations as part of a consortium of investors on its acquisition of a stake in Dexia Group
- Citibank on the disposal of its German retail bank, Citibank Privatkunden.
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Peters on +44 20 7456 2153 / sarah.peters@linklaters.com or Rupert Winlaw on +44 20 7456 3219 / rupert.winlaw@linklaters.com
