A&O takes global title for finance

Allen & Overy is the world's biggest adviser on large-scale project finance deals, according to a survey. However, other British firms did not perform as well.

The survey, by Project Finance International magazine, ranks firms worldwide by number of deals worth over $500m (£316m) completed since January 1998.

Its top 10 are Allen & Overy, Shearman & Sterling, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, Chadbourne & Parke, Clifford Chance, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, Australian firm Allen Allen & Hemsley, Linklaters & Alliance and Latham & Watkins.

Graham Vinter, head of project finance at A&O, says: "Only five years ago project finance was a new area. But it is so time-consuming and it requires so much in the way of resources it must be treated as a serious stand-alone area. We have done that for many years and this is the dividend."