Linklaters leads the mergers and acquisitions pack

Linklaters, reports the Financial Times, advised on 236 deals, worth €197.5bn, a clear €29.9bn lead over its City of London rival. Three big City law firms Linklaters, Clifford Chance, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have regularly battled over the first three places in the rankings in recent years. Freshfields took the third slot, by advising on 196 deals with a total value of €145bn. But the big US firms have been making substantial inroads into European deals in the past few years, and in 2004 New York\'s Sullivan & Cromwell jumped from sixth place ranking a year ago, to fourth. It advised on just 33 deals but with a €139.4bn value just €5bn short of Freshfields\' tally in value terms. Full report in the Financial Times

Worldwide, there was a surge of €400bn in the value of mergers and acquisitions. The Telegraph reports 48 513 deals were announced last year, compared with 39 694 the previous year. The deals were valued at €1.7trn, compared with €1.3trn in 2003, with European transactions exceeding the value of those done in the US for the second consecutive year. Full report in The Telegraph