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Never far from the largest European M&A deals, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s team in London advised the financial advisers to Cadbury on the unsolicited $19bn approach from Kraft, and London lawyers were also involved in the ultimately aborted $40bn bid by BHP Biliton for Potash Corp. Daniel Braverman, Sebastian Sperber and dual-qualified partner Tihir Sarkar make up the spine of the team.

Despite its relatively small size in the City, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s high-quality presence still looms large. Philip Boeckman is one of the ‘go-to’ US lawyers in London, and recently led a team that advised EQT Partners on the US law aspects of Liberty Global’s $4.5bn acquisition of Germany’s Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s global M&A brand has, if anything, been enhanced by the global financial crisis. The London team includes the highly rated Jeffrey O’Brien, Nigel Wilson and John Banes, and advised on a number of impressive global mandates including advising PepsiCo on its $3.8bn acquisition of a 66% stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods.

Shearman & Sterling LLP’s Creighton Condon is a ‘truly exceptional’ practitioner, and George Karafotias ‘combines technical expertise with commercial common sense’. A large cross-border team was assembled and led from London to advise Ardagh Glass Group and its subsidiaries in its €1.7bn acquisition of Impress Coöperatieve.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP’s strength in advising the leading private equity houses in Europe remains unchallenged, with Greg Conway and Michael Wolfson very highly regarded by peers. The team acted on a raft of high-profile mandates, including advising JP Morgan Securities as financial adviser to Deutsche Borse in its combination with NYSE Euronext.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP boasts one of the strongest US M&A teams in the City, with five partners including the renowned Scott Simpson. He and Michael Berkner advised Nokia Siemens Networks in its agreement with Motorola to acquire Motorola’s wireless network infrastructure assets for $1.2bn. Hunter Baker is also recommended.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP advised longstanding client Goldman Sachs on Seawell’s $890m acquisition of Allis-Chalmers Energy, led by the highly rated William Plapinger. New office head Richard Morrissey and Stewart Robertson led a team that advised BP on its $7.1bn sale of its interest in Pan American Energy to Bridas Corporation.

Covington & Burling LLP’s strength in the life sciences, regulatory and technology areas has led to a string of high-profile mid-market deals, regularly acting for Merck & Co and HealthpointCapital among others. Peter Laveran-Stiebar is highly acclaimed by clients.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP’s London team led on the merger of Russian potash companies Uralkali and Silvinit, in a $23.9bn deal. Office managing partner James Scoville led the team advising Uralkali. James Kiernan is also highly regarded.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson (London) LLP has ‘many subject matter experts, and great depth of talent and experience’. Robert Mollen’s team advised Virgin Media on its £160m sale of Virgin Media Television to BSkyB, as well as handling a string of mandates for Goldman Sachs.

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP has become the ‘go-to’ for firm for Bain Capital in Europe in recent years, and the team leverages the firm’s extensive US network to bring a broad range of work to these shores from private equity houses and plcs. James Learner and Matthew Hurlock are the standout partners.

The ‘pragmatic’ team at Latham & Watkins LLP is praised for its in-depth industry knowledge. Areas of particular experience include deals into Scandinavia. Olof Clausson and Antti Ihamuotila are both recommended.

Linklaters LLP boasts the leading US M&A practice of the UK-centred firms, and in Tom Shropshire has one of the most highly rated lawyers in the City. The team advised on the largest Russian telecoms merger ever when it acted for Comstar on its $23bn combination with Mobile Telesystems.

Headed by David Lakhdhir and Mark Bergman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s small London team has acted on some of Europe’s most complex transactions. It recently advised Infineon Technologies on the sale of its Wireless Solutions business to Intel for $1.4bn.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is praised for its ‘commercial and flexible approach’, with Doug Glass and Dan Walsh both recommended. It has an ever-strengthening reputation for acting on some of the largest deals coming out of Russia, and acted for VimpelCom on its combination with Weather Investments.

Allen & Overy LLP has a solid team of US law advisers handling US M&A and securities advice. Daniel Epstein is recommended alongside Mark Wippell, who is dual qualified.

Ashurst LLP’s US capability took a knock in 2010 with the departure of Daniel Bushner and Marie Elena Angulo to Jones Day. The firm moved quickly to bring in the highly regarded Ray Fisher and Jennifer Schneck, both formerly at Linklaters LLP.

Dechert LLP’s team is headed by the extremely well-regarded Douglas Getter, and acts extensively for US buyers in the UK and European markets. Crown, CMC, Altima, Absolut, Diploma and EFG Bank are representative clients.

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s real quality lies in its emerging markets work, with both Stephen Horvath and Brian Zimbler recommended. The team advised on a $1.2bn disposal for Mittal Investments.

Barry Glazer is the standout partner at Dorsey & Whitney, and recently advised Osteotech in the sale of its European subsidiaries, valued at over £100m.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP lost the highly regarded Presley Warner to Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Head of the US corporate group in Europe Sarah Murphy is highly rated, and led a team advising on Qatar Holding’s €2.1bn investment into Iberdrola.

Herbert Smith LLP was boosted by the arrival of capital markets lawyer Stephen Thierbach from Linklaters LLP. Alex Bafi advised Rothschild as financial adviser and sponsor on Liberty International’s proposed £1bn demerger of Capital & Counties.

Hogan Lovells International LLP has enhanced cross-border expertise following its merger. Todd Schafer is the standout figure, having taken a role advising Onexim Sports and Entertainment Holding on its $200m acquisition of an 80% stake in the New Jersey Nets basketball franchise.

Mayer Brown International LLP has a dedicated five-lawyer US team, in which Paul de Bernier is the lead partner. It advised Scott Wilson Group on its £286m takeover by a subsidiary of Californian-based URS Corporation.

Norton Rose LLP has the ‘outstandingly efficient’ Tom Vita among its ranks. The US corporate finance team advised Bilcare on the €100m acquisition of the Films Division of INEOS plc. Mike Dunn is also recommended.

The team at White & Case LLP works closely with the firm’s expansive international network to advise the likes of HSBC, GMR Infrastructure and Saudi Aramco. David Eisenberg is the key partner, with dual qualified Andrew Weiler also noted.

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