DLA Piper pursues mega-deals after corporate strategy overhaul

DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has reviewed its corporate strategy and upped the threshold of deals its City office will farm out to its regional offices.

DLA Piper is now aiming to act on deals of up to £2bn in value and will send more small deals to the regions after the average size of its M&A deals rocketed by an astonishing 82 per cent, from £35.5m to £66m in the past year.

DLA Piper head of corporate Alastair Da Costa said: "Inevitably, with the cost base we have in London, we have to think about the types of deals we can do in London. As we push towards upper mid-market work London will take the lead."

The move follows a record-breaking year for DLA Piper's corporate group in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, which posted a staggering 71.4 per cent jump in revenue from £48.9m to £83.8m during the last financial year.

Da Costa said: "We've always done very well on volume. But if you continue with high volumes and the market remains strong, size will also go up."

Earlier this month the firm scooped a role to advise Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance on the £1.1bn bid for retirement homes developer McCarthy & Stone.