Following HSF, King & Wood Mallesons advised on four (23.6 per cent) and Allens on three (17.6 per cent).

Coming in fourth were Norton Rose Fulbright, Gilbert + Tobin, Baker & McKenzie and Corrs Chambers Westgarth, which advised on two each.

There were also four mega deals with values over $1 billion in February.

The largest deal of the month was NAB’s demerger from the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank operations and the subsequent IPO of new entity CYBG, with a total value of $3.2 billion.

The second largest was the $2.3 billion (US$1.7 billion) funding for Pacific Hydro, a Melbourne renewable energy company.

The third largest was the issue of CommBank PERLS VIII Capital Notes, which raised $1.25 billion in funds, and the fourth was the establishment of the Social and Affordable Housing Fund by the NSW Government worth $1.1 billion.

Mergers and acquisitions was by far the busiest practice area for deals in February, with M&A accounting for 10 out of the 17 deals (58.8 per cent). Banking and finance was the next most common, accounting for four deals (23.6 per cent).

There were four deals in the energy and resources sector this month: the funding of Pacific Hydro, the financing of the Kipoi Copper Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MACH Energy Australia’s acquisition of the Mount Pleasant thermal coal project from Rio Tinto and AusNet Transmission’s acquisition of the Mortlake Terminal Station from Origin Energy.

There were two deals in the healthcare sector: bone and joint restoration product producer Exactech’s acquisition of Exactech Australia Pty Ltd, its Australian distributor, and Aveo Group’s acquisition of Freedom Aged Care retirement village.

There were also two deals in the technology sector: IT security company Tesserent Limited’s IPO and Novomatic’s acquisition of Australian gaming company Ainsworth Game Technology.