Linklaters breaks $1 trillion mark

The firm alone - excluding other firms in the alliance - acted on deals valued at $1,064 billion (?648.7 billion) including $735 billion of M&A, $216 billion of capital markets and banking deals and $105 billion of project finance.

The decision to lump together the different types of work to help meet the trillion-dollar target was met by derision from some City rivals.

But Linklaters managing partner, Tony Angell points out that the figurewould have been even higher if work carried out by other European firms in the alliance had been included.

Linklaters' European M&A total was boosted by acting as lead adviser in both Vodaphone's $148 billion bid for German telecommunications rival, Mannesmann - the largest unsolicited M&A deal ever - and the Royal Bank of Scotland's $43 billion hostile bid for the Nat West bank.

Charles Allen-Jones, Linklaters' senior partner says: "This year, for the first time ever, Europe saw a higher growth of M&A deals than the US. This may well be indicative for the coming year.

"If European M&A continues to grow faster than the US, Linklaters & Alliance is well placed to capitalise on this trend."