Latest ranking of top European and Scandinavian legal advisers in large M&A transactions in 2001 is announced!

25 Jan, 2002 09:00 CET

Latest ranking of top European and Scandinavian legal advisers in large
M&A transactions in 2001 is announced!

Swedish law firm Vinge is No. 10 in the whole European M&A market and
the No. 1 law firm in the Scandinavian market, according to the British
market analyst company mergermarket. Mergermarket has now announced its
full year 2001 league tables for legal advisers in large European and
Scandinavian M&A transactions.

Vinge is No. 1 in the Nordic region in total number of transactions (56)
as well as in total transaction value (ME 28,224) for 2001. The top 20
individual legal advisors in the Nordic region include six partners in
the Vinge Stockholm office and the lists are headed by Vinge lawyers
Hans Wibom and Johan Cervin.

- It is very gratifying, not only that Advokatfirman Vinge and several
of our lawyers are in such clear leading positions on the attractive
Scandinavian M&A market, but also that Vinge continues to be a preferred
legal service provider in this strategically important market segment -
comments Michael Wigge, managing partner at Vinge's Stockholm office.

Vinge is No. 10 on mergermarket's list for the whole of the European
large M&A market, with only the big English and American law firms in
front. This means that Vinge is No. 1 outside England and the US. The
list of the top 20 invidual M&A lawyers in Europe include two Vinge
lawyers, Johan Cervin at No. 4 and Johan Göthberg at No. 11.

- That Swedish independent firm Vinge is among the Top Ten in European
M&A does not only confirm the strength of the Nordic M&A market, but it
also shows what a strong position and good track-record Vinge has in the
market, even compared to the biggest international firms - Michael Wigge
continues.

- Vinge´s competition law practice group is also a frontrunner. Headed
by lawyers Carl Wetter and Johan Karlsson in Stockholm/Brussels, Rikard
Azelius in Malmoe and Björn Nicolai in Gothenburg, Vinge´s competition
law practice group has during 2001 advised on 13 notifications to the EU
Commission and a large number of notifications to national competition
authorities - Michael Wigge adds.

For further information contact Fredrik von Baumgarten, Tel. +46 (0)8
614 3107, +46 (0)70 714 3107, e-mail   or go
to our web site www.vinge.se .

Mergermarket is a company that continually compiles information about
M&A and other capital market transactions in Europe. For more
information visit www.mergermarket.com.

mergermarket league table of lawfirms advising in transactions over 15
EURm in Northern Europe for 2001 ranked by value

Rank House Value No of
(EURm) deals
1 Vinge 28 224 56
2 Mannheimer Swartling 20 823 24
3 Linklaters & Alliance 15 741 21
4 Clifford Chance 12 316 14
5 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 10 088 13
6 Hannes Snellman 6 678 7
7 Allen & Overy 6 356 10
8 Roschier Holmberg Attorneys 6 008 14
9 Sullivan & Cromwell 5 843 4
10 Hengeler Mueller Weitzel Wirtz 5 284 4

mergermarket league table of lawfirms advising in transactions over 15
EURm in Northern Europe for 2001 ranked by volume

Rank House Value No of
(EURm) deals
1 Vinge 28 224 56
2 Mannheimer Swartling 20 823 24
3 Linklaters & Alliance 15 741 21
4 Clifford Chance 12 316 14
5 Roschier Holmberg Attorneys 6 008 14
6 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 10 088 13
7 White & Case 3 877 12
8 Allen & Overy 6 356 10
9 Gernandt & Danielsson 1 710 9
10 Baker & McKenzie 1 607 8



Top 10 Corporate Lawyers ranked by total value of transactions announced
in the period 01 Jan 2001 - 31 Dec 2001, where either the bidder or the
target is in the Nordic Region; includes lapsed deals

Rank Bidder/Target Advisors Value No of
Individual EUR(m) Deals
1 Hans Wibom Vinge 14 745 4
2 Göran Nyström Mannheimer Swartling 14 236 3
3 Christoffer Saidac Vinge 11 107 2
4 Thomas Wallinder Mannheimer Swartling 9 994 1
5 Johan Göthberg Vinge 5 771 8
6 Julius Budde Hengeler Mueller Weitzel Wirtz 4 932 2
7 Lena Almefelt Vinge 4 842 2
8 Per Winnberg Hellström & Partners 4 842 1
9 Carita Wallgren Roschier Holmberg Attorneys 4 674 3
10 Tom Hård Mannheimer Swartling 4 258 6


Top 10 Corporate Lawyers ranked by total volume of transactions
announced in the period 01 Jan 2001 - 31 Dec 2001, where either the
bidder or the target is in the Nordic Region; includes lapsed deals

Rank Bidder/Target Advisors Value No of
Individual EUR(m) Deals
1 Johan Cervin Vinge 3 851 9
2 Johan Göthberg Vinge 5 771 8
3 Tom Hård Mannheimer Swartling 4 258 6
4 Peter Högström Linklaters & Alliance 717 6
5 Lennart Simonsen Roschier Holmberg Attorneys 2 424 5
6 Claes Zettermarck White & Case 351 5
7 Hans Wibom Vinge 14 745 4
8 Johan Cederlund Vinge 2 264 4
9 Erik Thyness Wiersholm Mellbye & Beck 650 4
10 Dick Lundqvist Gernandt & Danielsson 265 4


mergermarket league table (by volume) of legal advisors advising in
transactions
in Europe over £10m in the full year ended 31 December 2001
Rank House Value
EUR (m)
FY 2001 FY 2000 No of
deals
1 1 Linklaters & Alliance 212 991 214
2 3 Clifford Chance 192 232 181
3 2 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 214 567 167
4 4 Allen & Overy 91 405 151
5 6 Ashurst Morris Crisp 33 928 104
6 5 Slaughter and May 159 460 94
7 7 Herbert Smith / Gleiss Lutz 11 366 78
8 12 Eversheds 8 780 73
9 9 Shearman & Sterling 12 245 61
10 13 Vinge 27 760 57
11 8 Norton Rose 28 618 56
12 22 Baker & McKenzie 17 585 54
13 10 Lovells 24 082 51
14 17 White & Case 30 338 49
15 15 CMS Cameron McKenna 7 215 49
16 20 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton 118 450 48
17 29 Hammond Suddards Edge 4 623 48
18 16 Sullivan & Cromwell 156 166 47
19 18 Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 107 529 46
20 11 DLA & Partners 2 475 45

mergermarket league table (by volume) of individual lawyers advising in
transactions in
Europe over £10m in the full year ended 31 December 2001
Rank Individual Bank Value No of
EUR(m) Deals
1 Matthew Linklaters & Alliance 12 868 13
Middleditch
2 George Sampas Sullivan & Cromwell 52 360 11
3 James Davis Freshfields Bruckhaus 6 744 10
Deringer
4 Johan Cervin Vinge 3 851 9
5 Thomas Forschbach Ashurst Morris Crisp 3 777 9
6 Michael Johns Ashurst Morris Crisp 942 9
7 William Underhill Slaughter and May 68 685 8
8 Jeffrey Lawrence Shearman & Sterling 43 443 8
9 Stephen Kotran Sullivan & Cromwell 25 959 8
10 David Pearson Clifford Chance 19 500 8
11 Johan Gothberg Vinge 5 771 8
12 Roberto Cappelli Clifford Chance 2 937 8
13 Charlie Geffen Ashurst Morris Crisp 2 776 8
14 Russell Carmedy Gouldens 1 395 8
15 Jeff Twentyman Slaughter and May 1 238 8
16 Patrick Speller Allen & Overy 518 8
17 Robin Johnson Eversheds 497 8
18 Iain Fenn Linklaters & Alliance 43 390 7
19 David Cheyne Linklaters & Alliance 28 990 7
20 William Lawes Freshfields Bruckhaus 24777 7
Deringer