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Although clients were pleased with the service offered by the capital markets team at Linklaters Allen & Gledhill, some pointed out that the firm's communication and accessibility could still be improved: "They're commercial - being commercial is sort of in the balance, a bit more conservative but overall they understand," says one client. "In some cases they take more conservative views. To improve for me, I guess [they would need] more communication and more [of a focus on] commercial aspects. They are easy to access but communication isn't always the best... more communication [and] less conservative is always good."

Partner Dean Lockhart represented Cebu Air, the operator of Cebu Pacific Air, in its $617 million IPO, which included the listing of Cebu Air on the Philippines Stock Exchange and the issuance of 187 million shares total. This IPO is reportedly the largest ever in the Philippines.

In Islamic finance, partners Kevin Wong, Dean Lockhart, and Richard O'Callaghan advised Khazanah Nasional Berhad in the issuance of a S$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) sukuk (Islamic bond) offered in two tranches through Danga Capital Berhad, a special purpose vehicle (SPV). This represented the largest and longest sukuk issuance in Singapore, the largest Singapore dollar issuance by a foreign issuer in Singapore and the first Singapore dollar sukuk issuance out of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre.

Within the Linklaters Allen & Gledhill banking team Philip Badge remains the standout name for peers and clients alike. A specialisation in India linked deals gives Badge a fairly unique position within the market and clients appreciate his knowledge.

One client of Badge says: "For me, it's personally all about the partners that you work with, not so much the institution. Every time that you work with a law firm it boils down to the partners and your level of confidence in them for negotiating the best deal for you." The client adds: "The guys I worked with were super. The most important thing is that you get a first tier guy in the deal when it matters, sometimes after you sign on the deal, you have the senior partner not being involved, but that wasn't the case. They worked very hard, the most important thing is that the guys were very vocal in front of the clients to make sure the banks get a good deal."

Last year Badge and fellow partner Stuart Bedford acted for the arrangers, including Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets Asia and Credit Suisse International, in a case that provided $6 billion in acquisition financing to Vedanta group for a controlling stake in Cairn Energy. In this complicated transaction, Badge and Bedford assisted the arrangers in the structuring of three facilities, team debt, equity bridge and high yield bridge, in one of the largest in-bound acquisitions in India to date. The acquisition price may go up to $9.3 billion depending on the size of the stake, which is still unknown.

Badge also advised lender Standard Chartered regarding a $500 million financing facility for Reliance Globalcom, an Indian company. Security was taken in England, New York and Bermuda, and legal counsel was sought in Cyprus, the Netherlands, and India. Because of complications arising from the multiple jurisdictions, the deal took a month longer than expected to close.

Alongside Clifford Chance, Linklaters Allen & Gledhill remains one of the leading lights of the Singapore M&A scene. With strong domestic and international capability the team is well set to deal with any mandates that come its way.

The main driver and certainly the biggest name in the team is Stuart Bedford, who is held in high regard by clients: "He listens and knows what a client needs," says one. "He's able to assist the client to structure appropriate deals, provide other perspectives (commercial and non commercial) that the client may not have seen so as to enable the client to make better decisions."

Bedford, along with partner John Lane, advised Vallar regarding acquiring shares in two IDX-listed companies, Bumi Resources and Berau Coal Energy, in two separate transactions totaling $3 billion. This M&A deal had to comply with both British regulations and Indonesian law, as Vallar is to be the first Indonesian-controlled company on the LSE.

Another highlight transaction in the Malaysian healthcare industry this year was Mitsui & Co's acquisition of a 30% stake in Integrated Healthcare Holdings, which has investment holdings in Singapore's largest hospital group. Bedford represented Mitsui & Co in the $1.1 billion transaction.

"The lawyers at Linklaters Allen & Gledhill are very much accessible and responsive," a client says. "We can call them at midnight. If we ask them to work all night for urgent matters, they're willing to do that."

Clients commend the firm's service and expertise in project finance, though peers claim that it is more focused on banking. Regardless, the firm is involved with some of the largest deals in Asia. Partner Richard Ginks and counsel Nathan Dodd advised Singapore's Ministry of Finance regarding the Sportshub public-private-partnership (PPP), the largest PPP in Asia thus far. It required S$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion) in funding.

Ginks, Dodd and counsel Thomas Ng also represented China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China in their first limited resource project financing in India. Other lenders represented include Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and Bank of Tokyo, who financed US $1.3 billion for a greenfield coal fired power station for the Haryana Power Generating Corporation.