A&L Goodbody regained its position as the leading legal player in the Irish mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in 2003.
The Dublin firm was involved in 19 deals worth almost €2.25 billion in the year, comfortably ahead of second-placed William Fry, which advised in 15 transactions worth a total of €1.83 billion, according to a ranking by Mergermarket.com.
The result marks a return to form for Goodbody, which last year languished in 14th position in terms of the value of M&A activity in which it was involved. In terms of the number of deals, Goodbody also topped the table.
William Fry and Arthur Cox came second and third respectively on both the number and value of deals undertaken.
The other key feature of 2003 has been the resurgence of Matheson Ormsby Prentice. It rose to sixth in the table of transactions by value from 23rd in 2002 and to fourth in terms of the number of deals in which it was involved from ninth the previous year.
The rankings relate to transactions worth more than €5 million but exclude property dealings and company restructurings that leave shareholding interests unchanged.
Of the Big Five Dublin legal firms, the big loser, according to the table, was McCann Fitzgerald. It was involved in only seven qualifying deals in the State and slipped to 15th from seventh in the value of deals undertaken. Local rivals LK Shields and Mason Hayes & Curran overtook McCann, although each was involved in fewer deals.
The leading five Irish firms were involved in transactions worth a total of almost €7 billion in 2003.
On a wider scale, the legal side of the European M&A business was dominated by firms from Britain and the US. British firms retain the top three slots but US rivals have made gains further down the rankings.
Overall, Clifford Chance was the dominant player, involved in 216 deals across Europe with a value of €163.1 billion during the period. The large British and US firms have been helped by their dominance in cross-border transactions.
A separate survey looking at the strength of law firms in 19 separate categories has again named Arthur Cox as the top Irish group. The Global Counsel 3,000 survey includes performance in M&A, tax, banking and finance, real estate and construction, dispute resolution and intellectual property.
Arthur Cox, which has led the survey for five successive years, was ranked a leading firm in 10 categories. McCann Fitzgerald came second, followed by Goodbody's, Matheson Ormsby Prentice and William Fry.
The Global Counsel 3000 survey also ranks Goodbody, William Fry and Arthur Cox as the leaders in M&A business.
