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 1-3Q rankings, advising on 57 announced deals worth $76.9bn (£46bn).