J.P. Morgan has been named Russia M&A adviser of the year by Acquisitions Monthly magazine at the publication’s annual M&A and private equity awards ceremony held in London on Tuesday.

Natasha Tsukanova, head of Russian and CIS investment banking said: “This award recognizes J.P. Morgan’s commitment to providing a first-class advisory service to the firm’s clients in Russia and highlights the ongoing investment that J.P. Morgan is making in the expansion of its Russian investment banking franchise.”

Last year the firm acted as the exclusive financial advisor to RAO UES, the US$60 billion state-controlled energy company, in the final stage of the government initiated industry-wide restructuring program. It was also awarded the ‘Best Russian M&A House’ by Global Finance Magazine and, according to Dealogic, was ranked first in Russian M&A.

The Moscow-based banking team, which comprises over 80 people, has key relationships with the public sector, large corporations and leading financial institutions in the country and offers the full spectrum of investment banking services to its clients.

J.P. Morgan was among the first American-based banks to open in the Soviet Union when Chase Manhattan chairman David Rockefeller established an office at 1 Karl Marx Square in Moscow in 1973. Chase Manhattan later merged with J.P. Morgan in 2000.

In addition to naming the firm Russian M&A adviser of the year, Acquisitions Monthly also named two of the firm’s deals - the €5.1 billion  PPF Generali joint venture, and the Altadis' defense and recommended offer of €50 per share from Imperial Tobacco – as Emerging market deal of the year and Defence of the year respectively. JPMorgan Cazenove also received praise for its role in the privatization of Alliance Boots in a deal which was named the Buyout of the Year by the Thomson publication.