It has been 12 months to forget for Europe's mergers and acquisitions specialists. Macro shocks have kept confidence low, leading company boards to remain cautious and projects to be pulled. But M&A bankers are quietly confident about 2013.

The lack of market stability has led Europe-targeted mergers and acquisitions volumes to the lowest in almost a decade. Total activity for the year-to-date, at $697bn, is down 14% on 2011 and the lowest since 2003, according to Dealogic.