London, 5 December 2019: Mergermarket, the leading provider of M&A data and intelligence, announced the winners of the 2019 European M&A Awards last night at a gala dinner at Banqueting House in London, in partnership with Merrill Corporation and DealCloud. 40 winners in European financial and legal advisory were selected by the judging panel. The judging process was meticulous and included an analysis of Mergermarket’s market-leading league tables followed by a shortlist announcement and scrutiny by a panel of expert judges. European M&A is down by 20.1% by value versus YTD 2018 - compared to a fall of global M&A of just 5.9%.

John West, Managing Editor EMEA at Mergermarket and member of the judging panel commented on European M&A this year: “Similar to this time last year, European M&A is facing an uncertain macroeconomic outlook due to Brexit, international trade disputes, Chinese reticence to deploy capital overseas and the impact of populist political leaders tearing up the liberal order playbook. 

Though this uncertainty will continue in 2020, record dry powder will see private equity firms hungry to deploy capital. Indeed, at 21% of all European M&A year-to-date, private equity buyouts are at their highest proportion of deal activity since the crisis. Reaching EUR 33.6bn so far this year, take-privates will come in at their highest annual value since 2007. 

Private capital will continue to be king in 2020, with larger funding rounds, more secondary deals and corporates going public much later in their life cycle than we have been used to.

Warren Buffett famously said he was ‘greedy when others are fearful’. On that score, there should be rich pickings for brave dealmakers in the coming year. Many of tonight's winners have been successful against the most challenging backdrop for years. It's a notable achievement for any firm that has grown their market share in 2019.”

M&A advisers:

Goldman Sachs is the European financial adviser of the year. The leading firm worked on blue chip deals across the region, including mandates for Allergan, London Stock Exchange and Zato Group Holdings.

Citi was the top financial adviser in three countries: in Russia – where it supported Severgroup’s acquisition of a Lenta – the largest ever Russian retail transaction; in Denmark, where they advised on many of the most significant transactions in the country and in Israel, where they acted as financial adviser to Searchlight Capital, Gazit Globe, Bridgepoint and McDonald’s.

CMS received the mid-market legal adviser award, demonstrating its expertise in a wide range of industries and markets. Kirkland & Ellis were announced as the European legal adviser of the year, advising on more European buyouts than any other firm and had the lead role of 4 out of 6 of the largest UK public to private deals.

Deal of the Year:

In a year where private equity deal activity was so prominent, the audience of dealmakers opted for one of the largest European buyouts. The buyout of Nestle Skin Health by a private equity consortium led by EQT was awarded the European M&A Deal of the Year.  

Winners: 

European M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Goldman Sachs

European Mid-Market M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Rothschild & Co

European M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Kirkland & Ellis

European Mid-Market M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – CMS

M&A Financial Advisory Country Awards:

Austria M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Deloitte

Benelux M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Deloitte

Central & Eastern Europe M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Denmark M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Citi

Finland M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Nordea

France M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – BNP Paribas SA

Germany M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – JPMorgan

Ireland M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Davy Corporate Finance

Israel M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Citi

Italy M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Mediobanca

Norway M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – ABG Sundial Collier Holding ASA

Russia M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Citi

Spain M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Santander CIB Spain

Sweden M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - PwC

Switzerland M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Credit Suisse

Turkey M&A Financial Adviser of the Year – Pragma Corporate Finance

United Kingdom M&A Financial Adviser of the Year - Barclays

Legal Advisory Country Awards:

Austria M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Schoenherr

Benelux M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Allen & Overy

Central & Eastern Europe M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Clifford Chance

Denmark M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Plesner

Finland M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Hannes Snellman

France M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Latham & Watkins

Germany M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Hengeler Mueller

Ireland M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Arthur Cox

Israel M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Herzog, Fox and Neeman

Italy M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Gianni, Origoni, Grippo Cappelli & Partners

Norway M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Schjodt

Russia M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Spain M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Uria Menendez

Sweden M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Vinge

Switzerland M&A Legal Adviser of the Year - Baer & Karrer

Turkey M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – White & Case

United Kingdom M&A Legal Adviser of the Year – Allen & Overy

Matthew Robinson Content

Matthew is responsible for the content, production, marketing and operations team for custom events and conferences. He oversees event portfolios for Mergermarket, Debtwire, Unquote and PaRR brands.