After two dreary years, global M&A volume continued to recover in 9M24. Easing interest rates globally and increased US expectations of a soft economic landing saw mega-deals return to the fore and tech make a comeback.

Goldman Sachs increased its 1H24 lead over JPMorgan, leading charts globally, in Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific, according to Mergermarket’s global and regional M&A 1Q-3Q24 rankings. Its total deal volume rose 33% YoY to USD 744bn across 313 deals on stronger economic fundamentals. It worked with the target/seller about 56% of the time and its largest deal in 3Q4 was its sell-side advise to Kellanova [NYSE:K] on its pending sale to food and beverage giant Mars. About a third of its deals came from computer software and financial services, with energy taking the third spot.

Morgan Stanley jumped into the second spot from third in 9M23, leaping ahead of JPMorgan, which fell to third. Morgan Stanley saw its deal volume jump 37% YoY to USD 588bn across 263 deals, while it stood first in Japan and the Middle East & Africa. On about 53% of its 281 deals, it advised the target/seller. Morgan Stanley’s top three sectors were the same as Goldman’s. JPMorgan, which stood second in 1H24, saw its deal volume rise a mere 8% YoY to USD 568bn while its deal count amounted to 295 – 32 more deals than Morgan Stanley.

Evercore and Jefferies  managed to retain their half-yearly status as new entrants in the top-10 list. In the first nine months of the year, Evercore had a 95% YoY jump in deal volume to USD 256bn, while Jefferies jumped 104% to USD 200bn. About 22% of Jefferies’s 221 deals came from the technology sector where it worked almost equally on the buy and sell side. Similarly, about 30% of Evercore’s 135 deals came from computer services.

In terms of deal count, PwC and Deloitte continued to dominate first and second positions with 425 and 363 deals, respectively. PwC also scored the highest for deal count in Europe, Asia and the Middle East & Africa.