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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sullivan & Cromwell were retained as legal advisers on the latest multi-billion dollar merger in the US financial services sector.

Clifford Chance's hiring of Masayuki Okamoto as a partner in its finance practice has strengthened its team of bengoshi

Recommended firms Tier 1 Anderson Mori & Tomotsune Linklaters Mori Hamada & Matsumoto Morrison & Foerster Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Nishimura & Partners Tier 2 Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Jones Day Skadden Arps Sullivan & Cromwell M&A activity has increased in Japan, though the total value of inbound investment has decreased. Private equity-backed M&A almost doubled in the number of deals, with 127 in January to November this year, compared to 72 in the same period last year.

Recommended firms Tier 1 Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Hengeler Mueller Linklaters Tier 2 Cleary Gottlieb Gleiss Lutz Shearman & Sterling Hengeler Mueller continued to lead the way in German M&A in 2006. Standout deals included advising Schering on its €16.3 billion bid from Bayer, acting for Boc Group on the $14.2 billion Linde deal and representing Bear Stearns on the financing for Merck's €11.5 billion bid for Serono. And somehow the firm managed to find the time to act as German counsel to E.ON on its €48 billion bid for Endesa.

Recommended firms Tier 1 Hannes Snellman Roschier Holmberg Tier 2 Borenius & Kemppinen White & Case Tier 3 Castrén & Snellman Fennica Merilampi Marttila Laitasalo The Finnish M&A market has been rather slow in 2006 despite a boom in Scandinavia as a whole. The total number of deals fell 16.6% in the first 10 months of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005, according to Dealogic figures. The combined deal value dropped by a comparable percentage and the losses have been similarly proportioned across private equity and company-to-company transactions.

Why US firms make more money in M&A

Learn the lessons of Skadden in Europe

Rising M&A is intensifying the fight for Japanese lawyers

The explosive growth of China and India contributed to a strong sense of optimism among the lawyers gathered at IFLR's second Asia Capital Markets Forum in Hong Kong last month

US lawyers are responding to the needs of private equity with innovative financing techniques