Magic circle members Freshfields also took the top spot in a review of deals announced in emerging markets, according to Thomson Reuters M&A Legal Reviews for the end of the third quarter of this year, which accounts for deals announced and completed between 1 January and 28 September.

Downwards trend

Ohio’s Jones Day took the accolade for announcing the most deals with 293, and completing the most deals with 287. However, in both cases the numbers were significantly down from last year’s figures – a trend which ran through the majority of the review.
The value of worldwide M&A in the first nine months of 2012 stood at $1.7 trillion – a drop of 16 per cent from 2011 results. M&A activity as a whole fell by around 14 per cent.
Compared to the second quarter of 2012, the value of announced deals fell 13 per cent, and decreased in activity by around 3 per cent.