The London-based firm blasted past 2011’s leader and magic circle rival Allen & Overy, which advised on 494 transactions worth $366bn. Another magic circle player, Clifford Chance, rounded out the top three in the Global Capital Markets Legal Review.

Issuer advisers

Meanwhile, Sidley Austin took the title of top issuer adviser for 2012. The Chicago firm advised on a massive 1104 deals – 86 more than 2011 – dwarfing the total of joint-second placed firms Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Clifford Chance, which both advised on 208 deals.
Los Angeles-based firm Latham & Watkins and New York’s Skadden tied for first place among issuer advisers in global equity capital markets in 2012 with 52 issues each, while Davis Polk & Wardwell was the leading global equity and equity related legal adviser to offering managers, having advised on a total of 100 offerings with a total value of US$27.3 billion in proceeds raised.