GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, has revealed its global league tables for financial advisers by value and volume for the first half (H1) of 2020.

Goldman Sachs tops by value

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Goldman Sachs has dominated the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) league table of the top 20 financial advisers based on deal value in H1 2020. The American investment bank advised on 113 deals worth $205.9bn.

GlobalData has published top 20 league table of financial advisers ranked according to the value of announced M&A deals globally.

JP Morgan took the second place with a total deal value of $178.9bn from 105 deals it advised during the period.

In third position was Morgan Stanley, which worked on 92 deals in H1 2020 as against 112 in H1 2019.

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Bank of America and Citi secured fourth and fifth positions, having worked on 86 deals worth $130bn and 63 deals worth $99bn, respectively.

Aurojyoti Bose, financial deals analyst at GlobalData, said: “The COVID-19 outbreak impacted deal making during H1 2020 with 15 of the top 20 advisers (by total deal value) witnessing decline in advised deal value in H1 2020 compared with H1 2019.

“Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs was the only adviser that managed to cross the US$200bn mark in H1 2020 outpacing the majority of its peers by a great margin. It was the firm’s advise on some big-ticket deals that helped it top the list. It advised on 41 billion-dollar deals (deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn), out of which five were megadeals (>US$10bn).”

Ernst & Young leads by volume

Ernst & Young has dominated the M&A league table of the top 20 financial advisers based on deal volume in H1 2020.

According to GlobalData, Ernst & Young advised on 137 deals worth $30.6bn.

Goldman Sachs stood at the second position with 113 deals worth $205.9bn. In third position was Rothschild & Co, which advised on 110 deals worth $82.4bn.

JP Morgan and PwC secured fourth and fifth positions, having worked on 105 deals worth $178.9bn and 105 deals worth $14.9bn, respectively.

Bose said: “In terms of deal volume, Ernst & Young emerged as the top financial adviser in H1 2020. However, the firm settled at 17th rank in value terms due to its involvement in low-value transactions and few big-ticket deals. The firm advised on only five billion-dollar deals. However, it was among the very few firms that managed to showcase growth in advised deal volume as well as value in H1 2020 compared with H1 2019.

“In contrast, 16 of the top 20 advisers (by total deals volume) witnessed decline in advised deal volume in H1 2020 compared with H1 2019.”

A total of 24,698 deals were recorded globally in the first half of 2020, marking a 15.1% decrease from H1 2019.

To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions from leading advisers, through adviser submission forms on GlobalData’s website