Goldman Sachs ranked as the leading M&A financial adviser in North America by deal value in the first quarter of 2026, while Houlihan Lokey led by number of mandates, according to GlobalData’s latest league table.
GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database shows Goldman Sachs advised on transactions worth a combined $189bn during the quarter.
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Houlihan Lokey topped the volume table, working on 56 deals.
During Q1 2026, Goldman Sachs secured the second position by volume with 33 deals, followed closely by JPMorgan, Evercore, and Morgan Stanley, which tied for third with 31 deals each.
By value, JPMorgan was second with $178.1bn in advised deals. Evercore followed with $104.3bn, ahead of Morgan Stanley on $92.3bn and Centerview Partners on $66bn.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose commented: “Houlihan Lokey was the top adviser by volume in Q1 2025 and managed to occupy the top position by this metric in Q1 2026 as well, even though there was a year-on-year drop in the total number of deals advised by it. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs registered 60.8% growth in the total value of deals advised by it during Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. Resultantly, its ranking by value improved from the third position to the top spot.
“During Q1 2026, Goldman Sachs advised on 18 billion-dollar deals that also included five mega deals valued more than $10bn. The involvement in these big-ticket deals helped it register a massive jump in terms of value. Apart from leading by value, the investment bank also held the second position by volume during Q1 2026 with 33 deals.”
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
