One corner of the equity market in Europe has been booming more than most in the first six months of this year, leading to hot competition between investment bankers vying for league table supremacy.

Block trades have dominated equity market activity so far in 2013, accounting for 56% of the total value of all ECM deals in the region. The latest available data from Thomson Reuters show that between January 1 and June 21 there were $57bn of block trades and accelerated bookbuilds executed in Europe through 125 transactions, an increase of 117% on the total value of such transactions in the same period last year.