Slaughter and May and Allen & Overy (A&O) are among a raft of firms to benefit this week from two major M&A mandates worth more than $10bn (£5bn), as research shows 2007 is on course to smash all deal records.

Slaughters is leading a raft of international firms advising Reuters Group on its merger talks with Canadian data company Thomson Financial, valued at $17.6bn (£8.8bn).