Bar & Bench had in January, reported Venture Intelligence’s law firm rankings of most active Legal Advisors for 2009 for Private Equity and M&A transactions. ALMT Legal had bagged the top spot for private equity for completing 21 transaction in 2009 while Desai & Diwanji landed up with 17 M&A transactions to lead the M&A tables.

ALMT bagged the top spot for PE player advising variety of transactions including the Siddhartha Resorts – HDFC deal, followed by AZB & Partners for 12 transactions including Delhi International Aiport – IDFC deal followed by Khaitan & Co with 10 transactions with notable one being Blackstone –Gateway Rail deal. The top three were followed by ARA Law, Desai Diwanji with 8 deals and Trilegal with 6 deals.

In the M&A space, the top spot was awarded to Desai & Diwanji for 17 transactions followed by AZB and Khaitan, who were jointly awarded the second spot with 15 transactions, followed by Amarchand with 11 transactions. Luthra with 8 transactions, Rajani & Associates and Trilegal with 7 transactions, followed the top three transaction makers.

Amarchand, Luthra and Trilegal, the biggest firms in India, are not leading these rankings which were decided on the basis of volumes of deals and transactions. “Given the extraordinarily tough environment for deal making in 2009, advisory firms that made it to the League Tables for the year can be credited for their deep client relationships and market awareness,” says Arun Natarajan, CEO of Venture Intelligence in their press statement. Going forward, Venture Intelligence plans to update its League Tables each quarter, he added.

A complete list of rankings is available here.