A record number of deals were cancelled in 2008 leading to a sharp fall in fees for investment bankers. The total volume of worldwide mergers and acquisitions reached $3,280bn in the year to date, down 29 per cent from the full year in 2007 as financing difficulties, volatility in valuations and widespread risk aversion to dealmaking saw a swathe of deals pulled.

Companies abandoned 1,309 transactions valued at a total of $911bn, according to Dealogic, the financial data provider. In 2007, there were 870 withdrawn deals valued at $1,160bn.

BHP Billiton's $147.bn bid for fellow miner Rio Tinto was the largest-ever withdrawn deal while the $48.5bn acquisition of Canada's BCE telecoms group by a consortium of private equity groups marked the biggest failed buy-out ever.