Helen Power
Linklaters is top of Thomson Financial's half-yearly league tables for announced Asian M&A on both value and volume, but other UK firms, including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith, have plummeted down the rankings
Overall M&A activity for Asian jurisdictions, excluding Japan, has fallen by 23.07 per cent from the same period in 2001 - it is down to $42.2bn (£27.2bn) from last year's first half figure of $54.9bn (£35.4bn). China was the busiest jurisdiction, generating 306 major transactions, which accounted for $13.4bn (£8.6bn). The single biggest deal - Hong Kong-listed China Mobile's acquisition of eight mobile operators in the People's Republic - was a Greater China transaction.
Linklaters has moved up to first place on deals by value with a market share of 26.8 per cent from 21 deals. However, Linklaters' Singapore joint venture partner Allen & Gledhill has fallen from fourth to sixth place. Linklaters partner Andrew Roberts said: "Once again, in a rather depressed market we've proved that we're still retaining the lion's share of the M&A work available. This is a result of our reputation for helping our clients achieve success with the most important, complex and challenging deals."
The top spot on deals by value was occupied by Freshfields last year, but the magic circle firm has fallen to eighth place. The Herbert Smith/Gleiss Lutz alliance has also fallen out of the top 10, as have local Singapore firms the Wong Partnership and Drew & Napier. However, both Herbert Smith and the Wong Partnership remain in the top-10 table ranked by volume.
Linklaters also leads on deals by number, a position it held in the 2001 figures. Clifford Chance, which was in fourth place last year, has fallen out of the top 10. Although Freshfields has had few high-value deals, it has managed to keep up the number of its deals and sits in third place with Allen & Gledhill. The Herbert Smith/Gleiss Lutz alliance has also held up on deals by numbers, taking sixth place, up from thirteenth last year.
| Asian adviser rankings by value (on announced deals) |
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| Rank | Adviser | Rank val $m (£m) | Mkt share | Deals |
| 1 | Linklaters | 11,304.1 (7,291.9) | 26.8 | 21 |
| 2 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 11,260.3 (7,263.7) | 26.7 | 2 |
| 3 | Shearman & Sterling | 10,335.3 (6,667.0) | 24.5 | 3 |
| 4 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 1,161.2 (749.1) | 2.8 | 2 |
| 5 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 1,073.6 (692.5) | 2.5 | 2 |
| 6 | Allen & Gledhill | 868.5 (560.2) | 2.1 | 16 |
| 7 | Simmons & Simmons | 769.9 (496.6) | 1.8 | 7 |
| 8 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 634.7 (409.4) | 1.5 | 16 |
| 9 | Mallesons Stephen Jaques | 614.0 (396.1) | 1.5 | 2 |
| 10 | Weil Gotshal & Manges | 598.0 (385.8) | 1.4 | 4 |
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| Source: Thomson Financial. Excluding Japan. Excluding equity carveouts, withdrawn deals and open market repurchases, 01/01/2002 to 06/30/2002 |
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| Asian adviser rankings by number (on announced deals) |
|
| Rank | Adviser | Deals | Mkt share | Rank val $m (£m) |
| 1 | Linklaters | 21 | 1.1 | 11,304.1 (7,297.5) |
| 2 | Allen & Overy | 17 | 0.9 | 508.0 (327.9) |
| 3= | Allen & Gledhill | 16 | 0.9 | 868.5 (560.7) |
| 3= | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 16 | 0.9 | 634.7 (409.7) |
| 5 | Jones Day Reavis & Pogue | 13 | 0.7 | 354.0 (228.5) |
| 6 | Herbert Smith/Gleiss Lutz/Stibbe | 12 | 0.7 | 426.0 (275.0) |
| 7 | Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison | 11 | 0.6 | 173.8 (112.2) |
| 8 | Baker & McKenzie | 9 | 0.5 | 491.1 (317.0) |
| 9= | Simmons & Simmons | 7 | 0.4 | 769.9 (497.0) |
| 9= | Wong Partnership | 7 | 0.4 | 552.2 (356.5) |
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| Source: Thomson Financial. Excluding Japan. Excluding equity carveouts, withdrawn deals and open market repurchases, 01/01/2002 to 06/30/2002 |
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