• Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher ranks second with USD 235bn in deals
• FGS Global dominates European and American markets, but new names emerge in Asia-Pacific

As M&A values rebounded across all corners of the globe, PR advisors rose to the challenge, competing for key mandates in a market driven by large deals, AI-consolidation and a Chinese resurgence. The same three kings of PR remained steadfast, topping value charts, according to Mergermarket’s 1H25 PR league tables, though all saw declines in deal values.

FGS Global reigned supreme, as it did in 1H24 and FY24, with almost USD 360bn worth of deals worked on; Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher jumped a spot from 1H24 to take the silver, with USD 235bn worth of deals and Brunswick Group, which booked the largest decline in value among the top three, still took the bronze for its assistance on deals worth USD 211bn.

FGS Global also worked on the most deals at 233, Prosek Partners was second across 181 transactions, and Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher worked on 113 in 1H.

Regional leaders

In Europe, the same three names dominated in 1H25 as they did in 1H24. FGS Global (USD 142bn) with the gold; Brunswick Group (USD 118bn) with the silver; and H/Advisors (USD 49bn), a distant third. FGS dominated in the UK and in Germany; H/Advisors was top in France; ICR in Spain, Image Building in Italy; and Brunswick Group in the Nordics and MEA.

FGS Global (107), H/Advisors (71) and Prosek Partners (64) dominated Europe deal count.

In the Americas, the same names showed up in the exact same order as they had in 1H24 and FY24 for both deal value and deal count rankings. American deals contributed to more than half of FGS Global’s total, with deals worth USD 299bn to its credit. Joele Frank Wilson Brimmer Katcher, with USD 235bn, was a distant second, while Brunswick Group worked on USD 134bn worth of deals. All three PR firms saw these numbers slip, with Brunswick’s total falling the most at 40% year-over-year.

The same story replayed on deal count, where the top names retained their positions from last year and FY24: FGS Global (173) for the gold; Prosek Partners (153) with the silver; and Joele Frank (111) with the bronze.

It was only in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) that new names appeared on the list. While Brunswick Group (USD 47bn) retained its 1H24 top spot, it was followed by Barabino & Partners and Community – both divisions of the Italy-based Excellera Advisory Group. Both firms saw significant jumps in deal volume to land the coveted top spots.

On the deal count, NY-based Sodali & Co, with 27 deals, jumped a spot from 1H24 to take the gold; FGS Global slipped by a single deal to silver; and GRACosway, with 16 deals, ended 1H a few spots higher at third.