Sullivan & Cromwell has knocked rival Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom off its prized top spot in the US M&A league tables for the first three quarters of the year.

Despite seeing a 14.6% drop in deal value against the same period last year, the leading New York firm scored first position in Thomson Financial‘s newly published 3Q rankings, advising on 57 announced deals worth $76.9bn ($46bn).