Clifford Chance (CC), Ashurst and Linklaters have scooped some of the prime finance mandates of recent months as the continued surge in private equity and post-summer vogue for debt-backed public deals drives the market.

CC ended a recent quiet spell for acquisition finance last week after securing this year’s most closelywatched financing, advising Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on a $32.7bn (£18.5bn) debt package to finance Telefonica’s O2 bid.