Kekst is No. 1 again according to the results of mergermarket's Q1 2008 league table for North American M&A PR advisers. Kekst tallied 35 deals worth $19.8 billion. The firm worked with Abernathy MacGregor (No. 5) on the CME bid for the NYMEX exchange (they both worked with NYMEX), a $9.5 billion deal that moved Abernathy up to No. 2. The deal was the second largest for the quarter.
The remaining top five in order are: Brunswick Group, Sard Verbinnen, and Joele Frank. Mergermarket also highlighted CJP Communications for moving up to the No. 7 spot from No. 35 at the end of 2007 due to its work on First Reserve's bid for CHC Helicopter, a $2.3 billion deal that was the 10th largest for the quarter.