The 3 London-based partners of a boutique M&A firm shared in a £36.6 million profit pool

LONDON - The three partners of Robey Warshaw, a Mayfair-based M&A advisory firm, shared a profit pool of £36.6 million ($42.9 million), according to accounts filed on Tuesday.

The firm brought in £43.2 million in revenue in the year ended March 31, 2016, after scoring roles on a series of huge takeover deals, including advising SABMiller on its proposed tie up with Anheuser Busch InBev. 

The firm, set up by senior trio Simon Robey, Simon Warshaw and Philip Apostolides in 2013, paid out £6.1 million in expenses, including £5 million to 11 members of staff. 

The three partners do not draw salaries but instead take a slice of the profits, with the highest earner making £18.2 million. The Times reported the story earlier, naming Simon Robey as the partner who earned the most.

The boutique is growing fee revenue rapidly. It earned £23.9 million in the year ended March 31, 2015, according to accounts filed last year.  And Robey Warshaw looks set to continue its stunning form, earning a place in the top 10 M&A boutiques in the world.

Former Morgan Stanley and UBS bankers Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw advised on at least four mega-deals worth a total of $67 billion (£54.1 million) in 2016 against a backdrop of a cooling M&A market, according to figures from Dealogic, earning more than £80 million in fees.

In 2016, Robey Warshaw advised Softbank on its £24 billion ($29.7 billion) takeover of chipmaker ARM as well as on the National Grid's sale of a majority shareholding in its UK gas distribution business. The firm has declined to comment on the Dealogic data.

Here is the Dealogic table for global M&A boutiques:

Meanwhile, total global deal volume dropped to $3.7 trillion (£2.9 trillion) from last year's record high of $4.7 trillion (£3.8 trillion). The dip follows three year-on-year rises.

Here is how that looks in context:

UK M&A plunged more than 50% in 2016, as political uncertainty and currency volatility hit dealmaking: