Cleary zooms up M&A rankings after UniCredito-HypoVereinsbank boost

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have shot up the ranks in the European M&A league tables after securing roles on UniCredito Italiano's landmark €15.4bn (£10.25bn) bid for German bank HypoVereinsbank.

The deal, which was the biggest of the year so far and also the largest-ever cross-border deal in the European financial services sector, saw a massive upheaval in both the Italian and German M&A league tables for the first half of 2005.

According to figures released by Mergermarket, all nine firms involved in the deal ranked within the top 10 in both markets based on value. Most notably, Cleary, adviser to JPMorgan, rose 16 spots in the Italian table based on value to take the lead position after advising on deals worth €28.1bn (£18.7bn).

Skadden, which is the adviser to Citigroup, similarly rose a staggering 67 spots to reach third position in the German table based on value after advising on deals worth almost €24.2bn (£16.1bn) in that market.

As a result of the UniCredito deal, financial services has been the most active sector in Europe by value so far this year, accounting for 27 per cent of M&A activity in Europe.

The UK has been the most active market in Europe so far this year by both value (22 per cent) and volume (25 per cent). It was followed closely by the German market, which accounted for 19 per cent of value and 17 per cent of volume.

In the overall European M&A league table, Linklaters lost its position at the top of the table based on value, dropping two spots, after advising on total European deals worth almost €75bn (£49.9bn).

Linklaters lost the top spot to magic circle rival Clifford Chance, which advised on deals worth €98.31bn (£65.41bn), while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ranked second, advising on deals worth almost €79bn (£52.56bn).