Global law firm Dentons has seen a sharp increase in M&A work over the last six months, achieving a marked rise in the H1 2017 M&A League Tables throughout Europe.

European M&A league table highlights – H1 2017

• #2 by deal value, Germany – up 52 places (Thomson Reuters mid-market)
• #2 by deal value, Turkey – up 12 places (Mergermarket)
• #3 by deal value, Italy – up 17 places (Bloomberg)
• #6 by deal value, Poland – up 4 places (Mergermarket)
• #12 by deal value, France – up 47 places (Thomson Reuters mid-market)
• #13 by deal count, Europe-wide – up 15 places (Mergermarket)
• #14 by deal count, Benelux – up 1 place (Bloomberg)
• #16 by deal count, Spain – up 14 places (Thomson Reuters mid-market)
• Top 3 by deal volume, Eastern Europe (Bloomberg Global)

A surge in Western Europe

Dentons has seen a surge in both deal volume and value in Western Europe, as evidenced in the Firm’s sharp rise in the league tables in several markets. In Italy, Dentons reached #5 in Thomson Reuters - up 47 places, #3 in Bloomberg – up 17 places, and #11 in Mergermarket – up 36 places. In Germany, the Firm climbed 52 places to reach second place by deal value in Thomson Reuters’ mid-market tables.

These major gains reflect Dentons’ investment into key hires in the Corporate and M&A practice in Western Europe. Since the beginning of 2015, the Firm has hired 12 Corporate and M&A partners in Germany and five in Italy.

“We are extremely gratified to see that our growth strategy is really paying off in terms of our ability to support complex transactions for our clients,” said John Flanigan, Co-Chair of Dentons Europe Corporate group. “As we see in the most recent league tables, within two years of entering Italy, our Corporate and M&A team is among the top teams in the country, and our performance in Germany, which is an extremely competitive market, is equally impressive.”

Continued leadership in Central and Eastern Europe

Dentons has maintained its strong market position in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), despite a general market slowdown in transaction volume in certain key countries such as Hungary and Poland. Bloomberg Global also listed Dentons on their ‘Global Heat Map’ amongst the top three for deal volume and adviser market share in Eastern Europe. Also of note is the strong performance by Balcıoğlu Selçuk Akman Keki Attorney Partnership (“BASEAK”), the law firm associated with Dentons in Turkey, which rose 12 places to take second place in the Mergermarket table for Turkey.

High profile deals in H1 2017

In the first half of this year, Dentons was involved in numerous high profile deals throughout the region, many of which were cross border and required close cooperation among multiple offices:

• Advising Enbridge on its investment in a North Sea offshore wind farm. Canadian energy infrastructure company Enbridge and German utilities company EnBW to build a North Sea wind park with 71 wind turbines.
• Advising Munich-based Jochen Schweizer on the sale of its digital division to ProSiebenSat.1
• Advising German private equity firm Quartum Kapital on its acquisition of the food company Dreistern Nahrungsmittel
• Advising Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, on the acquisition of the payment activities business of Bancomzvjazok in Ukraine.
• Advising Dutch pet care group Beeztees on the acquisition of Karlie Flamingo
• Advising Korporacja Inwestycyjna Polskiej Farmacji on the successful tender offer for the sale of 100 percent of shares in Pelion S.A, Poland’s largest healthcare company. This was the largest tender offer for shares of a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange this year.
• Advising Expobank CZ on its entry into the Serbian market through the acquisition of Marfin Bank JSC Belgrade from Cypriot Cyprus Popular Bank
• Advising KKR on its acquisition of Travelopia, one of the world's leading specialist travel groups, from TUI AG.
• Advising the shareholders of German automotive supplier MT Technologies GmbH on the sale of 100 percent of their shares. The majority of shares, 94.9 percent, were sold to AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc.
• Advising Italian manufacturer SAES Getters on a complex joint venture deal with US-based Polyera Corporation and Polyera Taiwan Corporation Limited.
• Advising Austria-based private equity firm Lifebrain on the acquisition of a group of clinical laboratories from a leading private diagnostic laboratory provider in Italy.
• Advising Turkish private equity fund Pera Capital on its acquisition of 45% of the shares of Asset Medikal.
• Advising OMV on the €1,4 billion sale of its shares in the Turkish mineral oil distribution company OMV Petrol Ofisi A.Ş. to Vitol Group. This deal was the largest deal in Turkey in H1, 2017 (Mergermarket).

Christof Kautzsch, Co-Chair of Dentons Europe Corporate group commented, “These results demonstrate that we are exceptionally well placed to coordinate regional work for our clients, who are increasingly engaging us on their multi-jurisdictional deals throughout Europe. The interaction and cooperation of our different offices and geographies is a key added value to these clients.”

About Dentons

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