Even as political sands kept shifting, boards opted to be proactive and make their own weather, drumming up an astonishing USD 5.1tn in M&A transactions.

The pursuit of scale and optionality drove some 75 megadeals of more than USD 10bn, while corporate right-scaling saw many corporates offload non-core assets with a view towards cost-cutting, corporate hygiene, and strengthening core offerings.

Amidst this sea of change, the same public relations firms dominated, with the usual suspects also scoring highly, according to Mergermarket’s global and regional M&A rankings for PR advisors.

FGS Global was the undisputed winner across volume and deal count, keeping both its golds from 2024, and hitting USD 1.14tn across 527 deals last year.

Joele Frank and Brunswick – both formidable names in the PR world – exchanged places from 2024, earning a silver and bronze, respectively, with USD 890bn and USD 734bn under their belt.

FGS Global’s largest deal was its buyside assistance to railroad operator Union Pacific in its USD 88bn acquisition of Norfolk Southern. Across that deal, representing the target were both Joele Frank and Brunswick. Joele Frank also represented the target in 2024’s largest deal – providing PR counsel to Warner Bros Discovery, the target of a USD 108bn takeover battle between Paramount Skydance and Netflix.

While deal value rose 45% year-over-year to USD 5.2tn in FY25, deal count fell less than 1% to 41,981 deals. Notably, three of the top four PR firms by deal count recorded rises from 2024, indicating corporate clients were increasingly finding value in PR services.

FGS Global added 44 deals to its tally, taking its total to 527. Prosek Partners, which held the silver from 2024, held stable at 374 deals. H/Advisors, which jumped one spot to land at third, added 25 deals to its credit, with its total reaching 308. Brunswick, which dropped to fifth last year from third, had 75 fewer deals than it did in 2024.

Europe

• FGS Global kept the gold in both deal volume and count with USD 388bn across 229 deals, Brunswick kept its silver with USD 366.2bn and H/Advisors its bronze with USD 155bn
• H/Advisors took the silver in deal count across 209 deals, exchanging places with Brunswick, which had 165 deals
• In the UK, Brunswick jumped a spot to take the gold with USD 195.3bn across 103 deals while FGS Global dropped a spot but earned the silver with USD 126.5bn across 102 deals
• In Germany, FGS Global kept its throne with USD 61bn across 60 deals
• In France, H/Advisors took the gold in both deal volume and count with USD 78.6bn across 98 deals
• In Spain, Brunswick jumped four spots to win the gold with USD 33.8bn across eight deals
• In Italy, FGS Global jumped six spots to earn a gold with USD 28bn across 15 deals
• In the Nordics, Brunswick climbed one spot to earn the helm with USD 26bn across 18 deals
• In MEA, FGS Global led value with USD 164.6bn across 19 deals

Americas 

• Both the Americas and the US had the exact same three names on both the value and deal count front, as they had in 2024
• In the Americas, FGS Global had USD 967.4bn, Joele Frank had USD 890.7bn, and Brunswick had USD 574.3bn
• In the US, FGS Global had USD 909.8bn, Joele Frank kept its silver with USD 864.4bn, and Brunswick had USD 481.8bn
• In the Americas by deal count, FGS Global had 359 deals, Prosek Partners had 308 deals, Joele Frank had 254 deals
• In the US by deal count, FGS Global had 343 deals, Prosek Partners had 305 deals, Joele Frank had 250 deals
• In Canada, FGS Global kept its gold on both value and deal count with USD 109.7bn across 42 deals

APAC

• In APAC excluding Japan, Brunswick and FGS Global kept their gold and silver crowns with USD 64.8bn and USD 35.9bn, respectively
• In APAC excluding Japan, FGS Global and Sodali & Co kept their gold and silver with 84 and 55 deals, respectively, on the deal count front
• In Japan, FGS Global kept its top position by value and count both with USD 109.6bn with 38 deals
• In Australasia, GRACosway topped the deal value rankings with USD 26.2bn across 28 transactions
• In Greater China, Brunswick jumped two spots to land the value crown with USD 59bn while FGS Global kept its gold on the deal count ladder with 33 deals