It was another flat year in the Italian market with the dearth of big-ticket M&A continuing. But despite the tough conditions, Italy's transactional powerhouses all grew in numbers and recorded respectable results. Bonelli Erede Pappalardo reported a 5.9 per cent turnover increase, with revenues hitting €86m (£58.35). Longstanding power and gas client Enel proved key to the strong performance, instructing Bonelli on a raft of transactions, including the €1.4bn (£950m) sale of subsidiary New Real to Excelsia Otto and the €1.48bn (£1bn) IPO of subsidiary Trasmissione Elettricita Rete Nazionale on the Milan Stock Exchange.

Italy's largest firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners also recorded a solid year, with partner numbers rising by 10 per cent to 53. At the same time, the firm piled on an extra 29 other lawyers, bringing the total lawyer count to 303. Turnover hit an estimated €91.38m (£62.00m), rising by 3.5 per cent. The Parmalat restructuring, which is set to reach a conclusion in the coming months, dominated 2004 for Gianni, with the firm advising administrator Enrico Bondi on the bankruptcy. However, the banking powerhouse famously declined to act for Parmalat in pursuing claims against the banks. That instruction instead went to litigation boutique Studio Legale Lombardi Molinari.

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's Italian ally Chiomenti Studio Legale reported a flat set of results, with turnover rising moderately from 2003 to €78.89m (53.52m). At the same time, Chiomenti piled on a whopping 40 lawyers in 2004, with lawyer numbers reaching 200 by the end of the year; partner numbers rose from 25 in 2003 to 31 in 2004. While the firm suffered from the M&A slump, it continued to pop up on the few major corporate deals that did close. It secured instructions from Italian state-owned lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti on its acquisition of a 10.25 per cent stake in computer chip manufacturer ST Microelectronics from defence group Finmeccanica. Elsewhere, it advised the buyer in one of Italy's major real estate M&A deals - the acquisition of real estate company New Real by Deutsche Bankaffiliated investment fund Excelsia Otto. The firmagain topped the M&A tables, advising on 23 announced deals in 2004 with a total value of €25.61bn (£17.38bn). According to figures provided for The Lawyer by Mergermarket, Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners was close behind, also advising on 23 deals with a combined value of €25.01bn (£16.97m). Bonelli came top in the volume tables, advising on 36 announced deals worth €7.12bn (£4.83bn).

It was another year of turbulence for the international firms, although for many 2004 was a period for the licking of wounds and consolidation. White & Case saw the departure of former Italian head Alessandro Varrenti and the hire of private equity specialist Alberto Morano to rebuild the practice, while Allen&Overy (A&O) corporate rainmaker Robert Casati left for Cleary Gottlieb Steen&Hamilton and Turin salaried partner Fabio Alberto Regoli departed to set up his own firm. But despite teething problems and the dominance shown by the indigenous Italian firms in the M&A league tables, UK firms continued to chip away at Italian hegemony, securing a number of enviable instructions.

In spite of Casati's departure, A&O won a significant coup advising Finmeccanica on the sale of its avionics business to BAE Systems. The firmmanaged to secure third place in the Italian M&A table, advising on 13 deals worth a combined total of €24.8bn (£16.83bn).

Elsewhere, Clifford Chance continued its search for corporate capability in Rome following last year's departure of junior partners Gian Luca Rabitti and Paolo Tommaso to Chiomenti. The firm's Italian operation, led by the iconic Nick Wrigley, put in a solid performance in Italy, notching up 27 corporate deals with a combined value of €23.54bn (£15.97bn). The continued growth of international firms in Italy has also seen the birth of legal publishers and dedicated legal magazines for the first time in this notoriously opaque market, while a raft of recruitment agents and headhunters are considering opening in the jurisdiction.