4 October 2004 LAWFUEL – Best law news, legal, attorney, M&A, law firm newsWith only one quarter remaining in 2004, Clifford Chance, the world’s
largest fully integrated law firm, has further consolidated the number one
position in European M&A that it held in 2003, according to the latest
published results from mergermarket and Thomson Financial, amassing an
impressive eleven # 1 spots overall.
According to mergermarket, Clifford Chance is the top advisor by both value
and volume of announced European M&A deals, having acted on 164 transactions
worth a total of almost EUR 134bn. This overall leading performance is
backed up by some impressive rankings at the national level, with a first
place in the UK and Spain, second in Germany and third in France by total
value of deals.
Figures from Thomson Financial also show Clifford Chance in the number one
spot for announced European deals. This was backed by first place in Spain
and Germany, second in the UK and third in France.
With the market for European M&A unaffected by rising interest rates and up
20% at EUR 400 billion compared to the same time last year, Clifford Chance
has emerged as the clear leader in the field.
Highlight deals so far in 2004 include advising:
* Santander Central Hispano SA on its £8.5 billion bid for
Abbey National Group plc.
* International Power plc and Mitsui & Co on the acquisition
of the power plants of Edison International in Australia, Asia and Europe
for US$2.3 billion.
* CVC Capital Partners and Permira on their £1.75 billion
acquisition of the Automobile Association (AA).
* Bayer AG on the acquisition of Roche Consumer Health for
EUR2.38 billion.
* Rockwood Specialities, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. and
DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, in Rockwood’s acquisition of Dynamit Nobel
from mg technologies for EUR2.25 billion.
David Childs, global head of the corporate practice, commented:
“I’m delighted with our continuing strong performance across so many of our
offices. Our strategy for 2004 was to forge closer connections with our
clients and more effective connections among the teams of lawyers managing
transactions across offices or practice areas. It’s given us demonstrable
advantages, especially in complex, cross-border deals and we are pleased
that our unique strengths in this area have been recognised in receiving
instructions from clients such as Banco Santander, KKR and Bayer.”
