In the first half of the year, we could all be forgiven for harboring a small degree of optimism. If you look at the global M&A market according to analysis undertaken for the first half of the year by mergermarket, there were announced a total of 5,062 deals worth around $883 billion, an increase of around 14% compared to the same period in 2009. That said we’ve also had the ever-present threat of double dip recession, governmental promises of austerity and the problems surrounding sovereign debt in Europe. So the big question is what does the next twelve months hold for the global M&A market?

Last month I attended the inaugural “Dealmakers of the Year Awards” at Scott’s restaurant in London. The event, hosted by IntraLinks with the support of the Mergermarket Group, celebrated the achievements of M&A practitioners who have excelled in their field during the past 12 months in spite the financial crisis and its dramatic effect on global M&A deal volumes.

Short listing for the event was undertaken independently by mergermarket using the mergermarket.com M&A deals database which tracks transactions where the value is greater than €5m. Financial advisors and lawyers qualified on the basis of advice given on transactions to UK-based corporations, targets, vendors and acquirers. Selection was based on both the total volume and value of deals advised on.