There appears to be some contradiction in the latest Q3 M&A league tables released by Mergermarket and Bloomberg.
Mergermarket's table (below) showed that for the first three quarters of 2008 Mallesons had slightly more deal volume (55) than Freehills (53), while Bloomberg's results showed Freehills (103) was significantly in front of Mallesons (51).
Either way, Freehills partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage is happy with the firm's performance in Mergermarket's latest Asia Pacific league table. This could be because the firm's M&A value (US$217.7bn) was about four times more than Mallesons (US$58.8bn), and Freehills was also recently named Australian M&A legal advisor of the year at the 2008 FT/Mergermarket M&A advisor awards.
Maslen-Stannage believes the differences on the tables are due to different deal value thresholds, among other things: "we focus on M&A deals that are strategic, which means that the dollar value may not be very high. However, we are happy to help our clients if they think it has enough value for their business."
Recently M&A activity has been "lumpy", she said, due to the global credit crunch, and uncertainty over whether companies will be able to finance takeovers with debt.
Maslen-Stannage said Freehills still has a strong workflow, even though it is relatively "stop-start" at the moment due to the credit crunch. "It's still looking very promising, we have a lot on the books, but it's a question of whether the planets will align," she said.
M&A legal advisory league tables – Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) - by deal count
|
1/1/08 - 9/30/08
|
2008
|
2007
|
|
|
Firm
|
Rank
|
Market share (%)
|
Volume (US$m)
|
Deal count
|
Rank
|
Market share (%)
|
Market share change
|
|
|
1
|
28.6
|
165,539
|
103
|
1
|
16.5
|
12.1
|
|
|
2
|
2.1
|
12,220
|
82
|
16
|
2.5
|
(0.4)
|
|
|
3
|
34.3
|
198,454
|
57
|
8
|
11.7
|
22.6
|
|
|
4
|
5.3
|
30,488
|
55
|
4
|
2.8
|
2.5
|
|
|
5
|
1.5
|
8,787
|
52
|
9
|
2.5
|
(1.0)
|
|
|
6
|
4.3
|
24,784
|
51
|
6
|
6.4
|
(2.1)
|
|
|
7
|
27.6
|
159,647
|
46
|
11
|
3.8
|
23.8
|
|
|
8
|
2.7
|
15,766
|
44
|
13
|
3.7
|
(1.0)
|
|
|
9
|
10.6
|
61,405
|
41
|
12
|
6.6
|
4.0
|
|
|
10
|
39.2
|
226,477
|
39
|
6
|
12.1
|
27.1
|
|
|
10
|
1.5
|
8,399
|
39
|
3
|
4.9
|
(3.4)
|
|
|
12
|
2.0
|
11,873
|
34
|
33
|
0.7
|
1.3
|
|
|
13
|
27.5
|
159,300
|
33
|
14
|
3.2
|
24.3
|
|
|
14
|
2.5
|
14,553
|
31
|
17
|
1.7
|
0.8
|
|
|
15
|
0.9
|
5,149
|
30
|
2
|
6.2
|
(5.3)
|
|
|
15
|
0.4
|
2,534
|
30
|
15
|
0.6
|
(0.2)
|
|
|
17
|
4.0
|
23,184
|
29
|
5
|
5.5
|
(1.5)
|
|
|
18
|
0.3
|
1,593
|
27
|
27
|
1.8
|
(1.5)
|
|
|
19
|
2.1
|
11,922
|
26
|
25
|
0.3
|
1.8
|
|
|
20
|
29.1
|
168,417
|
25
|
17
|
4.4
|
24.7
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
US$578.4bn
|
6,537
|
US$459.6bn
|
|
|
Source: Bloomberg
* Includes mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, self-tenders and spin–offs; excludes open-market transactions. Tables based on deal count, then volume and market share is based on deal volume
League table of legal advisers to Asia-Pacific (ex Japan) M&A – by deal count
|
Q1-Q3 2008
|
Year end
2007
|
Company name
|
Value (US$m)
|
No. of deals
|
|
1
|
2
|
|
58,828
|
55
|
|
2
|
1
|
|
217,716
|
53
|
|
3
|
3
|
|
12,201
|
47
|
|
4
|
8
|
|
204,056
|
40
|
|
5
|
10
|
|
8,798
|
34
|
|
6
|
5
|
|
5,193
|
34
|
|
7
|
11
|
|
7,481
|
33
|
|
8
|
18
|
|
231,963
|
32
|
|
9
|
14
|
|
9,041
|
32
|
|
10
|
20
|
|
8,.239
|
32
|
|
11
|
7
|
|
264,306
|
31
|
|
12
|
13
|
|
13,274
|
31
|
|
13
|
6
|
|
29,390
|
28
|
|
14
|
12
|
|
13,836
|
27
|
|
15
|
9
|
|
55,366
|
25
|
|
16
|
4
|
|
222,883
|
23
|
|
17
|
22
|
|
15,962
|
23
|
Source: Mergermarket