Global debt capital market dominated by US law firms
US LAW firms have triumphed in the first international debt capital market league tables from Thomson Financial, scooping the majority of the top 20 places.
Magic circle firms, with the notable exception of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, have also put in strong performances, as has Spanish firm Garrigues, which makes an appearance in both the issuer and manager tables.
The issuer and manager league tables track debt capital market activity in the second quarter of 2005.
Chicago's Sidley Austin Brown & Wood tops the issuer chart, working on 80 issues with a total deal value of $73.9bn (£42.29bn). In the US, Sidley can boast strong corporate relationships to complement its large finance practice. The firm has also been growing its London office into a well-recognised structured finance practice. Sidley also gained fifth place in the manager league table, acting for 25 issues amounting to $28bn (£16.02bn).
Of the other US firms making a splash, Sullivan & Cromwell landed top-five placings in both tables. Over the second quarter it acted for the issuer on 27 deals with a combined value of $37.9bn (£21.69bn), while for managers it came second with 39 trades, worth $48.3m (£27.64bn).
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton racked up 24 deals for issuers, equal to $16.9bn (£9.67bn), and advised on $18.9bn (£10.82bn) worth of deals for arrangers.
The UK magic circle firms once again demonstrated the dominance of their finance practices, with Slaughter and May and Lovells the only other UK-based firms to make any impact in the tables. Linklaters topped the manager chart for the last quarter, working on deals worth $95.8bn (£54.82bn), with Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy both gaining places in the top half of the charts.
Spain's largest firm Garrigues flew the flag for Continental Europe, acting on deals worth $15.2bn (£8.7bn) for issuers and $8.2bn (£4.69bn) for arrangers. Germany's Hengeler Mueller also did well on the arranger side, securing fourth place with deals worth $29.6bn (£16.94bn).
| Top 20 all international debt - issuer legal adviser |
| Rank | Legal adviser | Proceeds ($bn) | Proceeds (£bn) | No of issues | Market share (%) |
| 1 | Sidley Austin Brown & Wood | 73.87 | 42.27 | 80 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Clifford Chance | 44.69 | 25.57 | 46 | 2.7 |
| 3 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 37.87 | 21.67 | 27 | 2.3 |
| 4 | Linklaters | 26.05 | 14.91 | 39 | 1.6 |
| 5 | Allen & Overy | 23.66 | 13.54 | 17 | 1.4 |
| 6 | Cravath Swaine & Moore | 20.41 | 11.68 | 11 | 1.2 |
| 7 | Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | 16.87 | 9.65 | 24 | 1.0 |
| 8 | Garrigues | 15.19 | 8.69 | 13 | 0.9 |
| 9 | Shearman & Sterling | 9.10 | 5.21 | 13 | 0.6 |
| 10 | Latham & Watkins | 8.19 | 4.69 | 18 | 0.5 |
| Source: Thomson Financial |
| Top 20 all international debt - manager legal adviser |
| Rank | Legal adviser | Proceeds ($bn) | Proceeds (£bn) | No of issues | Market share (%) |
| 1 | Linklaters | 95.78 | 54.81 | 156 | 5.8 |
| 2 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 48.31 | 27.65 | 39 | 2.9 |
| 3 | Clifford Chance | 34.92 | 19.98 | 57 | 2.1 |
| 4 | Hengeler Mueller | 29.60 | 16.94 | 56 | 1.8 |
| 5 | Sidley Austin Brown & Wood | 28.11 | 16.09 | 25 | 1.7 |
| 6 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 25.26 | 14.45 | 34 | 1.5 |
| 7 | Allen & Overy | 19.75 | 11.30 | 27 | 1.2 |
| 8 | Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | 18.87 | 10.80 | 27 | 1.1 |
| 9 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 18.59 | 10.64 | 18 | 1.1 |
| 10 | Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom | 10.86 | 6.21 | 7 | 0.7 |
| Source: Thomson Financial |
