Commerce & Finance, DeHeng, Tian Yuan and King & Wood have ranked in the top ten of mergermarket’s 2009 table of legal advisors to Greater China M&A. Commerce & Finance was the number-one ranked firm, outdoing Freshfields and Linklaters. DeHeng came in fifth place, closely followed by Tian Yuan and King & Wood.

The largest M&A deal of the year, according to mergermarket, was China Yangtze Power’s US$15bn acquisition of the China Three Gorges Project power generators, advised on by DeHeng and Tian Yuan.

“The M&A market will definitely continue to boom in 2010. We have our eyes on state-owned-enterprises this year and are confident that there will be more action from these major players,” said Liu Yan, a partner at Tian Yuan. “However, whether or not we will excel, fall behind or maintain our ranking in this league will depend largely on our competitors – and many other contributing factors. Until then, no one will know for sure,” she added.

The total value of 2009 deals involving a bidder or target in Greater China rose 5% to US$421.4bn. Six out of the top ten deals were in the renewable energy and resources sectors

League Table of Legal Advisors to Great China M&A (Jan 01, 2009 - Dec 31, 2009)

Rank
House
Value (USDm)
Deal Count
1
Commerce & Finance
30,800
15
2
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
23,302
29
3
Linklaters
22,806
22
4
Baker & McKenzie
21,816
25
5
DeHeng Law Offices
19,553
9
6
Tian Yuan
17,503
8
7
King & Wood
15,002
16
8
Clifford Chance
14,632
10
9
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
14,528
7
10
Allens Arthur Robinson
14,417
3

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