Telefónica, a Spanish telecoms company, paid more in investment banking fees this year than any other European company.

The telecoms firm, which acquired UK mobile phone operator O2 in 2005, has paid out $183m (€138m) on debt, equity and mergers and acquisitions deals this year, according to data provider Dealogic. Citigroup, joint financial adviser on Telefónica's bid alongside Goldman Sachs, earned the most fees from the Spanish company, which sponsors the successful Renault Formula 1 team. The bank made nearly $27m after advising on the deal, as well as underwriting an £18.5bn (€27.4bn) bridge loan and a €4bn bond issue. Telefónica's position at the top of the fee-paying league table confirms the trend of the last six years. Six of the top 10 fee-paying companies over the period from 2000 to the beginning of December this year were telecoms firms. France Telecom paid the most fees at $1.1bn, ahead of Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia and Telefónica in the top four. Vivendi, a French media and telecoms group, lay in fifth, ahead of Vodafone in sixth and BT in 10th. Siemens, a German electronics and engineering group, car company DaimlerChrysler, and Enel, an Italian utility group, made up the top 10. In 2006, buyout firms, natural resources firms and companies from emerging markets have continued to grow in importance. Xstrata, a Swiss miner, lies behind Telefónica as the second-biggest fee payer this year, paying out $179m. JP Morgan, Xstrata's lead relationship bank, has scooped $77.5m of that, according to Dealogic. JP Morgan's fee is the biggest paid by any of the top 10 companies to an investment bank. Private equity firms are in third and fourth place following the leveraged buyouts of NXP Semiconductors and Nordic Telephone Company, while Russian power company Rosneft and Kazakh miner KazMunaiGas are in sixth and eighth, respectively. Bayer, a German conglomerate, Vinci, a French motorway company, and the UK's Vodafone also lie in the top 10 in what has been a record year for the European M&A market. Investment banks have picked up €7.9bn in advisory fees this year, the highest amount in Europe since the €9.6bn paid out in 2000. Europe's top 10 fee-paying companies have contributed 11% to the fee pool. This year's top 10 highlights the growing importance of emerging-market companies in European investment banking. In 2000, western European companies made up the entire top 10 table, but this year Rosneft and KazMunaiGas have paid a combined $192m in fees, comfortably making it into the top 10.