Arthur Cox advised on deals worth €57b in the near six months that have passed so far in 2014. Other firms to appear in the Irish top 10 come from the Magic Circle, Wall Street and Dublin. The other Irish firms include AL Goodbody, Matheson and McCann Fitzgerald.

US companies

Much of the work relates to ‘inversion’ deals through which US companies seek to reduce their tax by creating a head office in the Irish Republic in order to benefit from its low 12.5 per cent tax rate. Ciaran Bolger, chair of the Arthur Cox M&A team, said: ‘The use of Irish company and securities law is at the heart of these deals. That's really what we can offer.’ Source: Irish Independent