Deloitte
One of the most active advisers in the market, according to Mergermarket.

KPMG
Last year’s winner in this category has acted for clients including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Goldman Sachs and Warburg Pincus.

LEK Consulting
Claims more than 90% of its mandates come from repeat clients or referrals. Aims to supports clients across the whole private equity life cycle.

OC&C Strategy Consultants
Aims to rapidly deploy teams with sector-specific knowledge and provide speedy analysis with well-founded recommendations on potential acquisition targets.

PricewaterhouseCoopers
The accountancy says it has more than 100 dedicated due diligence specialists and consultants, each with a specific sector focus. One of the most active advisers around.

BDO LLP
It sells its model as “recognising that due diligence is not a ‘one size fits all’ service”.

Deloitte
A well-regarded advisory team with extensive resources.

Ernst & Young
The firm has built its team in the last year and sells its cross-border European service.

KPMG
The winner of the award in 2009 claims to have the largest and most integrated private equity group in Europe.

PricewaterhouseCoopers
The winner of the award in two of the last three years sells its ability to provide practical support to clients.

Deloitte
The firm aims to help organisations understand and manage the pension implications of transactions and to provide independent, commercially-focused due diligence support.

Ernst & Young
Aims to focus on issues such as pensions throughout a bidding process to identify the key issues which impact value and need to be addressed by due diligence in order to successfully facilitate a transaction.

KPMG
The firm’s pensions practice has helped a number of private equity clients with transactions involving significant pensions issues over the last year.

Punter Southall Transaction Services
With more than 700 staff, the pensions specialist aims to react swiftly to regulatory change and stay at the forefront of developments in the industry.

Towers Watson
The winner of the award for the last two years remains a pre-eminent name in the space.

Campbell Lutyens
A busy year has seen the firm win six mandates worth a potential value of $3.2bn. It has also made numerous hires.

MVision
Secured 19 new mandates, five of which were in Europe. Helped Waterland raise €1.1bn in five months. One client said: I would definitely recommend their services.”

Probitas
Was praised for doing a “fantastic job” in helping Montagu Private Equity raise €2.5bn during the depths of the fundraising slump.

Triago
One of Europe’s oldest placement agents is still going strong, with clients including Bridgepoint and Kelso Place Asset Management.

UBS
Won the mandate to advise on EQT Partners’ €4bn-plus fundraising, which raised €3.5bn in a matter of months, according to investors.

Capital Dynamics
The firm continues to broaden its business and has opened in Japan to complement a Brazil office launch and its first dedicated clean energy investment team.

HarbourVest
Last year’s winner in this category continues to be a premier name and has taken steps to consolidate the market.

Pantheon
Already one of the world’s largest fund managers, Pantheon has grown is assets under management and its staff numbers in the last year.

Partners Group
Regarded as a firm that can practically ensure fundraising success due to the quality of its due diligence, Partners Group was found to be Europe’s most influential investor.

SL Capital
Majority owned by UK insurer Standard Life, SL Capital Partners remains respected by fundraising professionals.

Altius Associates
The winner of this category for three out of the last four years holds considerable sway in fundraisings due to the amount of assets it manages on behalf of key clients.

Cambridge Associates
Well regarded, the firm offers a proprietary database it says is one of the industry’s most well-regarded resources.

Hamilton Lane
Last year’s winner has continued to grow its team and has won market share for European buyout firms due to its Asian links.

Portfolio Advisors
The US-based gatekeeper acts for a range of pension funds, endowments and family offices.

StepStone Group
With about $30bn under advisement, according to Preqin, StepStone remains one of the industry’s top names.

Augentius – last year’s winner in this category and one of the best-regarded fund administrators in Europe.

Aztec Group – ten years after its launch the group has grown to 100 staff and claims to have a 100% client retention rate.

IPES - in the past year the firm’s staff has grown from 119 to 131 while it has won 12 mandates from new GP clients and nine mandates from existing clients.

Ogier Fund Administration – Ogier claims to be the world's largest offshore legal and fiduciary services provider with in excess of 850 professional and support staff across ten jurisdictions.

State Street – following its acquisition of Channel Island-based Mourant nearly two years ago State Street is now one of the largest custodians in terms of alternative assets under administration.

3i Infotech/Framework
One of the group’s products, Framework, helps manage more than $200m of alternative assets for limited partners, general partners, administrators, fund of funds and others.

AnalytX/PE Office
One of the main software packages to the industry, PE Office was built specifically for private equity and venture capital fund managers with direct investment or fund-of-fund portfolios.

eFront/FrontInvest
One of the dominant products in the sector and the major rival to Investran by market share.

SunGard/Investran
Investran claims to support the majority of the largest buyout firms and has added nearly 55 new customers to its roster of global clients since the beginning of 2010.

Vitech Systems Group/EquiTrak
One of the main software packages to the industry, EquiTrak meets the needs of fund sponsors, third party administrators and banking institutions worldwide.

Aberdeen Asset Management
The firm claims its High-Yield Bond fund targets a monthly distribution yield of 8.5% p.a.

AXA Investment Managers
AXA hired James Gledhill from Henderson Global Investors as global head of high yield and deputy head of credit in the summer as one of a number of moves to grow the team.

European Credit Management
ECM says its high yield products are also able to take short positions, and take advantage of opportunities in both the cash and CDS markets.

Fidelity International
One of the best-known names in the market and well regarded for its high-yield expertise.

Muzinich
The global high yield manager has been another active firm in the market Its European high-yield strategy focuses on Euro denominated credits issued by European corporations with a rating of BB/B.

Brunswick
With clients including Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners and Vision Capital, Brunswick has been one of the most active PR firms in 2011.

FTI Consulting
One of the most consistent performers in the league tables of private equity public relations advisers. Clients include Cinven, Advent International and Bain Capital.

Finsbury
Client wins of 3i Group and Terra Firma have given Finsbury market share. It also acts for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Permira.

MHP
The merger of Mandate, Hogarth and Penrose late last year created a firm with clients including Coller Capital, Lion Capital and Capital Dynamics.

Tulchan
Gained market share in recent years and helped improve the profile of firms including BC Partners, Montagu Private Equity and PAI Partners.

Egon Zehnder International
Last year’s winner, Egon Zehnder is a multi-national business with 63 wholly owned offices in 37 countries. 65 of its 370 consultants are focused on the sector.

Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann
Two of the best-known recruitment firms in the industry merged in 2009 to create what the company claims is the largest talent management operation in the Emea region.

Parker Linton Associates
The private equity and investment banking specialist independent search firm prides itself on offering a bespoke service to clients.

Private Equity Recruitment
The category winner for three of the last four years claims to have more private equity and venture capital jobs across the UK, Europe and the Middle East than any other independent recruiter.

Skillcapital
Skillcapital recruits management teams for private equity-backed portfolio companies throughout Europe. It has worked with the likes of Blackstone Group, Cinven and Graphite Capital.

Ed Hall, SJ Berwin
“Ed Hall is fast-becoming an old master in the complex art of fund formation,” according to Louis Elson, managing partner at Palamon Capital Partners. Other clients he has advised include Phoenix Equity Partners.

Sam Kay, Travers Smith
Kay became a partner at Travers in 2008 and leads the firm’s investment funds group. He worked on the creation of Arle Capital Partners from Candover.

Rob Pulford, Goldman Sachs
The managing director in the bank’s financial sponsors team has advised on buyouts by firms such as Advent International, Bridgepoint and Charterhouse Capital Partners in the last year.

Stuart Sparkes, Deloitte
Head of the media team within corporate finance advisory. His deals include the sale of Gorkana to Durrants (Exponent) and the buyout of Clarion (Hg and then VSS).

Thomas Vignon, Credit Suisse
Described as a “rising star in the bank”, Vignon led the Picard transaction in France last year and more recently completed the CEP deal with JC Flowers.

Jana Klimecki, Tyler Mangan
The director and co-founder of the specialist management consultancy has drawn praise from firms such as ECI Partners and LDC, which described her as “adaptable, responsive and loyal”.

Chantal Ligertwood, Independent PR
Ligertwood works independently but has built up a strong reputation in her field, helping organisations such as EVCA raise their profile.

Amanda McCrystal, formerly HarbourVest, now at Pantheon Ventures
McCrystal is vice-president and head of strategic business development at the firm. She has been influential in helping the industry respond to regulatory threats in recent years.

Karen Simon, JP Morgan
Last year’s winner of this award is the global co-head of financial sponsors at JP Morgan and has held various senior roles within the bank.

Helen Steers, Pantheon
Steers holds various influential positions. She leads the firm’s European primary investment activity and chairs its European investment committee and also sits on EVCA’s LP council.

Allen & Overy
Last year’s winner in this category is an undisputed heavyweight in the banking advice arena.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Advised on financing for deals including CVC Capital Partners and ACS’ acquisition of 25% of Abertis and Cinven’s public to private of Spice.

Kirkland
Advised on financing aspects of deals including Bain & Advent International’s bid to acquire RBS Worldpay and the €500m high-yield issue for Edgars Consolidated Stores, a Bain portfolio company.

Linklaters
Advised on financing issues on CVC’s €1.2bn acquisition of the Autobar Group from Charterhouse Partners and advised on BC Partners’ €1.5bn sale of Picard group to Lion Capital.

Sidley Austin
The US firm is regarded by industry experts to be making good progress on financing work in London.

Ashurst
The firm continues to be known as one of the best in this area. It has built its team with hires and acted for clients including Candover Investments and Nordic Capital.

Clifford Chance
Traditionally one of strongest names in this area, the firm was once again one of the most active firms by volume and value of mandates in the last year.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Last year’s winner in this category has had another strong year, with mandates for clients including Nordic Capital and Cinven making it one of the most active firms by value and volume of mandates.

Linklaters
The Magic Circle firm ranks alongside the most active firms on European buyout activity by both value and volume.

Travers Smith
Widely regarded as the premier mid-market legal adviser in the UK, Travers has had another busy year.

Weil Gotshal
Weil has acted for clients including Omers Private Equity, Advent International and Bridgepoint and won mandates for firms such as Bain Capital and Oaktree.

Kirkland & Ellis
After building up a well-regarded team, Kirkland has won mandates for leading industry names. It has also worked with Candover Partners and Partners Group.

MJ Hudson
An innovative law firm launch, in which clients can partly pay with fund stakes, has seen its staff double and 20 clients sign up in the first year.

Proskauer Rose
The US firm has been building up in the UK and has hired a number of well-known partners to lead its cause.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Has made good progress since hiring some senior partners last summer.

SJ Berwin
Last year’s winner and the firm most associated with fund formation documentation. In the last year it has advised clients including Astorg and Endless.

Allen & Overy
Last year’s winner in this category has a highly-rated team and offices across the globe.

Bingham McCutchen
The firm well known for bondholder work has worked on many of the largest restructurings in Europe.

Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland worked on many of the most high-profile restructuring situations of the last year including Jost Gruppe, Monier, Gala Coral and Almatis.

Latham & Watkins
A US-based firm well known for its capabilities in the EMEA region. This summer the firm advised on the first and largest corporate debt restructuring in Saudi Arabia.

Linklaters
The firm remains one of the best-known legal advisers in this area and has advised on many LBO restructurings across Europe.

Catalyst
The firm advises on deals worth up to £350m and advised the management team on the buy-out of EMC Advisory Services backed by Lonsdale Capital Partners earlier this year.

Cavendish
The UK firm, which focuses exclusively on sellside M&A, has advised on deals including the sale of The Stewart Group to management and ECI Partners.

DC Advisory Partners
Has advised on deals including Isis Equity Partners’ sale of Getting Personal and Graphite Capital’s acquisition of U-POL in the last year.

Hawkpoint
A leading European boutique for leveraged buyouts, the firm advised on more than 20% of all LBOs worth more than €100m across the UK and France in the 12 months to June 2011.

Liberum Capital
This year the boutique has advised on the Glencore IPO and HarbourVest Senior Loans Europe’s share placing.

BDO LLP
The firm advises across all sectors and completes more than 200 transactions a year, which it claims makes it one of the most active advisers in the UK.

Ernst & Young
One of the most active advisers in the market. It claims to have worked on 50% of all deals greater than $250m across Europe in the 12 months to June 2011.

Grant Thornton
A national team of corporate finance advisers work with entrepreneurial businesses, their owners and management teams in the mid-market at various stages of their lifecycle.

KPMG
The Big Four accountant continues to grow its team and acted as lead financial adviser to Exponent Private Equity on the sale of Cardsave Group to WorldPay.

PricewaterhouseCoopers
The firm claims Thomson Financial stats place it as the number one UK private equity adviser, by volume, of UK private equity deals up to $1bn in 2010.

Alvarez & Marsal
Actively building up its operations with a spate of hires over the last year.

Goldman Sachs
One of the most active advisers on Emea restructurings so far this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

Houlihan Lokey
The most active adviser on Emea restructurings so far in 2011 by both value and volume. Deals have included Truvo and KCA Deutag.

Lazard
A premier name in restructuring, Lazard has advised on deals including the restructurings of Crest Nicholson, Pfleiderer and Frans Bonhomme during a busy few years.

Rothschild
Advised on the highest number of announced restructurings in the Emea region last year and is topping the table so far this year.

Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas
For advising on CVC Capital Partners’ Sfr3.3bn ($3.42bn) acquisition of Swiss telecoms operator Sunrise Communications from TDC.

Goldman Sachs, Nomura and Bank of America Merrill Lynch
For advising Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman on the €2.3bn buyout of Swedish security firm Securitas Direct from EQT Partners.

HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Lazard
For advising Clayton Dubilier & Rice and AXA Private Equity on their €2.1bn acquisition of French engineering company Spie from PAI Partners, which pre-empted an auction.

Lazard
For advising Carlyle Group on its £1bn acquisition of car breakdown and financial services business RAC from Aviva, the largest primary deal in the UK for a year and a competitive auction.

UBS and Goldman Sachs
For advising BC Partners on the $2.6bn acquisition of Swedish cable operator Com Hem from Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners.

Campbell Lutyens
For advising Lloyds Banking Group on the disposal of a €650m portfolio of 37 European mid-market funds, the largest secondary transaction in Europe in 2010.

Goldman Sachs
For advising Cinven on its sale of Phadia, a Swedish allergy-testing company, to Thermo Fisher Scientific for €2.47bn, which generated a 3.4-times multiple for the sponsor.

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan
For advising a Silver Lake-led consortium on the $8.5bn sale of a majority stake in internet phone company Skype to Microsoft.

Rothschild, BNP Paribas, Nomura
For advising Charterhouse Capital Partners on an 89% stake sale in vending machine operator Autobar to CVC Capital Partners for €1.2bn, doubling its money.

UBS, Mediobanca and Unicredit
For advising PAI Partners on the sale of department store chain Gruppo Coin to BC Partners for €733m, about seven times Gruppo Coin’s 2010 ebitda.

BNP Paribas
Provided debt on 79 European deals in the 12 months to the end of July according to Dealogic’s rankings, making it the most active lender.

Deutsche
Topped Dealogic’s rankings for Europe’s top leveraged loan lenders in the 12 months to the end of July by value of deals.

ING
Another active lender in Europe, the Dutch bank has hired to build up its team and was involved in arranging a term loan of €500m for Bain Capital’s purchase of Dutch chemical outfit IMCD Group.

Lloyds Banking Group
Last year’s winner in this category, Lloyds has continued to be an active lender with deals including BC Partners’ £677m acquisition of Phones4u Group and Bain Capital’s MBO of IMCD.

Société Générale
The second most active lender, according to Dealogic, and has made hires to build its team.

Deutsche Bank
The bank advised on the second highest value of deals in the 12 months to July 2011. Deals included The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners’ $2.6bn sale of Com Hem.

Goldman Sachs
Still a premier in financial sponsor advisory, Goldman had advised on the highest value of private equity transactions in the 12 months to the end of July.

HSBC
The bank was involved in deals including CD&R's and AXA's acquisition of Spie, BC Partners' acquisition of Coin, CVC's acquisition of Delachaux and KKR's acquisition of Versatel.

Lazard
Lazard has gained market share to become one of the most active advisers in Europe with deals including RAC, Spie, and V-Ships.

Morgan Stanley
One of the top few financial sponsor advisers by both value and volume over the last year, according to Dealogic.

Rothschild
Last year’s category winner advised on the highest number of deals in the 12 months to the end of July.