Vinge sees positive signs on the Nordic M&A market!

Vinge sees positive signs on the Nordic M&A market! Vinge keeps its leading position as the most retained legal advisor in the Nordic region. According to mergermarket's publicised ranking of major M&A transactions in the Nordic region during the first nine months of the year Vinge positions itself as number one. In the ranking of all of Europe Vinge, as the only Nordic law firm to make the list, positions itself with a 17th place on the list among Europe's most called upon M&A law firms. As evident from the latest statistics from mergermarket's the Nordic market for major M&A transactions has begun to show positive signs. During the first nine months of the year Vinge has noted a clear increase in the number of transactions. With 36 transactions Vinge tops the list of the Nordic regions most called upon legal advisors. The individual ranking of legal advisers finds four Vinge-lawyers among the top 15 most sought after with Vinge lawyers Johan Cederlund and Johan Göthberg occupying the two top positions. The significance of the increase of the Öresund region is demonstrated by the movement of Peter Linderoth of Vinge Malmoe up to the fifth place of the individual ranking. The recovery of the Nordic M&A market is also evident from Vinge's 17th place on the list of Europe most called upon legal advisors. - The development of the M&A market is definitely looking brighter, even if it might be too early to speak about a trend. The fact that Vinge not only kept its leading position in the Nordic region, but also recaptured a position among the most utilised law firms in Europe can be seen as a sign of strength, both for Vinge and for the Nordic M&A-market, says Michael Wigge, managing partner at Vinge Stockholm in a statement. Vinge is one of the Nordic regions largest law firms, with approximately 445 employees of which around 275 are lawyers. The business is fully concentrated on business law, whereas a essential part constitutes international commissions of Mergers and Acqusitions and Corporate Finance. _______________________ For further information please contact: Michael Wigge, tel.: +46 8-614 30 56,070-714 30 56, michael.wigge@vinge.se. or Fredrik von Baumgarten, tel.: +46 8-614 31 07, 070-714 31 07, fredrik.baumgarten@vinge.se. mergermarket is an English company that continuously compiles information regarding sales of a businesses and other transactions made on the European market. For more information visit www.mergermarket.com. mergermarket league table (by volume) of legal advisers advising on transactions in Europe(1) over EUR 5m in the period 01 Jan 2003 - 30 September 2003 2003 House Value (EURm) No of deals 1 Clifford Chance 112,011 153 2 Linklaters 97,467 137 3 Allen & Overy 74,111 118 4 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 85,194 106 5 Ashurst Morris Crisp 28,993 80 6 Eversheds 3,404 67 7 CMS 15,659 64 8 Herbert Smith, Gleiss Lutz , Stibbe 34,418 60 9 Lovells 13,071 60 10 Jones Day Gouldens 21,314 58 11 DLA Group (formerly DLA & Partners) 2,127 53 12 Slaughter and May 34,446 46 13 Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 71,020 45 14 Baker & McKenzie 4,931 43 15 White & Case 17,616 41 16 Shearman & Sterling LLP 29,004 38 17 Vinge 2,530 38 18 Macfarlanes 13,826 36 19 Hengeler Mueller 12,943 36 20 Osborne Clarke 2,012 36 mergermarket league table (by volume) of legal advisers advising on deals in the Nordic Region(4) over EUR 5m in the period 01 Jan 2003 - 30 September 2003 2003 Company Name Value (EURm) No of Deals 1 Vinge 1,969 36 2 Mannheimer Swartling 6,319 31 3 Linklaters 5,696 16 4 Roschier Holmberg 3,426 16 5 Hannes Snellman 1,072 10 6 Kromann Reumert 5,143 9 7 White & Case 1,816 9 8 Thommessen Krefting Greve Lund 6,578 8 9 Bech-Bruun Dragsted 963 8 10 Gorrissen Federspiel Kierkegaard 1,165 7 mergermarket league table (by volume) of legal advisers advising on deals in the Nordic Region(4) over EUR 5m in the period 01 Jan 2003 - 30 September 2003 2003 Advisor Type Current House No of deals 1 Johan Cederlund Corporate Vinge 6 2 Johan Göthberg Corporate Vinge 6 3 Kaj Swanljung Corporate Roschier Holmberg 4 4 Göran Nyström Corporate Mannheimer 4 Swartling 5 Peter Linderoth Corporate Vinge 4 6 Kim Dobrowen Corporate Thommessen 3 7 Tom Hård Corporate Mannheimer 3 Swartling 8 Peter O'Driscoll Corporate, Coudert Brotheras 3 Financing 9 Juhani Makinen Corporate Hannes Snellman 3 10 Johan Aalto Corporate Hannes Snellman 3 11 Dimitrios Himonas Corporate Roschier Holmberg 3 12 Ulf-Henrik Kull Corporate Roschier Holmberg 3 13 Fredrik von Baumgarten Corporate Vinge 3 14 Mika Ståhlberg Corporate Krogerus & Co 3 15 Lars Jonsson Tax Linklaters 3 ______________________ ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/10/06/20031006BIT00760/wkr0001.DOC http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/10/06/20031006BIT00760/wkr0002.pdf