• JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley follow in global M&A rankings
• American bankers reign supreme in Europe
• APAC leaders include five local names

Despite global uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on tariffs, there was an unexpected bump in global M&A values in 1Q25. This was driven by a surge of deals in March, which saw 95 announced transactions north of USD 1bn; a Chinese renaissance, as the government pumped money into state lenders; and an increasingly pervasive attitude that the current tariff-led market correction will pass.

What was not surprising was the predictable trinity of financial advisors taking gold, silver and bronze for top deals by value, according to Mergermarket’s 1Q25 global and regional M&A rankings.

Without breaking stride, Goldman Sachs continued its 2024 dominance into 1Q25, with deal values jumping almost 30% year-on-year (YoY) to USD 341bn, as it held top spots in Europe, the US, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). As has historically been the case, Goldman’s worked with the target/sell-side on around 70% of its 116 deals, with tech contributing to almost 25% of its sell-side mandates.

Both the second and third place winners – JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley – were flat YoY. The former took second place in the US and Asia-Pacific, while the latter reigned supreme in Japan. JPM, as was the case in 2024, continued to demonstrate a strong 63% target/sell-side bias, with a hefty 40% of its target/sell-side deals coming solely from tech and financial services, split evenly between them. Morgan Stanley recorded more of an equal bias between buy-side versus target/sell-side, and eight of its total 47 deals as a target/sell-side advisor were with computer software firms.

Lazard, Centerview Partners, and Rothschild were new entrants into the global top 10. Lazard posted an almost 90% spike in YoY value to USD 87bn, landing in seventh place; Centerview climbed 31% YoY to ninth, while Rothschild & Co ballooned 139% to tenth. The three firms ousted Jefferies, Evercore, and PJT Partners, all of which witnessed declining deal values.

Goldman’s impressive jump in deal value was aided by its rise in global deal count rankings, where it also retained pole position with 116 deals, ousting PwC from its 1Q24 place. PwC took the second spot, with 110 deals, followed by JPMorgan, with 103.

Europe winners

Four of the top five financial advisors in Europe by value hailed from the US: Goldman’s was out in front by some margin (USD 100bn), followed by Citi (USD 63bn), JPMorgan (USD 61bn), and Morgan Stanley (USD 57bn). Rothschild (USD 60bn) leapt six places to take fourth, while other European players among the top 10 comprised Barclays, UBS, and Mediobanca.

Barclays and Mediobanca were the two new entrants in Europe, rocketing 186% and 271% YoY in deal value to USD 43bn and USD 29bn, respectively. The firms pushed out BNP Paribas and Evercore.

Barclays worked on 10 deals across sectors, including chemicals, real estate, and energy. Four of its 10 had a financial sponsor buyer, and on two of these deals, Barclays worked with the buyer: Apax Partners on its pending acquisition of Eci Software Solutions, and TDR Capital on its completed USD 1.2bn majority stake purchase of UK-based investment firm, CorpAcq.

Mediobanca’s largest deal was an advisory role to itself during its ongoing USD 13bn sale to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The Milan-based financial advisor worked with Italian companies on nine of its 17 deals, three times on the buyside and six times on the target/sell-side.

Looking at the data by region, Goldman’s wore several crowns, including in the UK, DACH, Benelux, and Nordics; Citi stood atop in Iberia; in France, Rothschild seized pole position from Lazard from 1Q24; and in Italy, Mediobanca beat out JPMorgan.

Winners in Europe’s rankings by deal count were PwC, which took Deloitte’s position in 1Q24, Rothschild & Co in second, and Goldman’s, which soared 10 spots to land at third. Other fresh-faced entrants in the top 10 were Bank of America, Jefferies, Clearwater, and Citi.

Americas winners

Global winners Goldman Sachs (USD 260bn), JPMorgan (USD 224bn), and Morgan Stanley (USD 208bn) mirrored their positions in the Americas and in the US – the driving force behind global M&A. Three more banks – Citi (USD 128bn), Barclays (USD 108bn), and Bank of America (USD 100bn) – enjoyed more than USD 100bn of deal value although of these only Goldman Sachs and Barclays registered YoY rises.

Within the US, the spoils were shared out between Goldman’s and JPMorgan, with the former taking the lead in the Northeast, South, and West, while JPMorgan was top dog in the Midwest.

Goldman Sachs also dominated in Canada, where it saw a remarkable 416% bounce in deal values to USD 22bn on the back of its buyside counsel to Austrian energy firm OMV in a pending and joint USD 13.4bn bid for Canadian plastics manufacturer, Nova Chemicals. Canadian firms BMO Capital Markets and TD Securities also saw YoY value and deal count rises, propelling them into the top five.

There were four new names among the coveted top 10. First was Barclays, with an 84% jump to USD 108bn, driven by its sell-side counsel to Wiz in a pending USD 32bn sale to Alphabet. The second was Lazard, which delivered a 168% increase to USD 67bn thanks to two large deals – its buyside counsel to Constellation Energy in a pending USD 29bn offer for power generator Calpine, and its USD 11.5bn target advice to Beacon Roofing Supply in its ongoing acquisition by software firm QXO. Centerview Partners, with a 24% surge to USD 67bn, worked with biotech firms on 30% of its deals, and Wells Fargo Securities, with a 22% jump to USD 64bn, worked on the buy-side for 64% of its 17 deals.

These four firms took the places of Evercore, UBS, RBC Capital Markets, and PJT Partners.

On the deal count front, the top three advisors were neck and neck: Goldman Sachs (85) narrowly edged out JPMorgan (80), with five deals, while Houlihan Lokey (78) fell short by two. Citi, Lincoln International, and Robert W Baird were new entrants.

Asia-Pacific winners

While Goldman Sachs (USD 44bn) and JPMorgan (USD 25bn) came in first and second in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), five local banks made it into the top 10. HK-based Gram Capital (USD 17bn) and Somerley Capital (USD 12bn) were third and sixth, respectively; China’s Guotai Junan Securities (USD 16bn) and China International Capital Corp (CICC) (USD 13bn) ranked fourth and fifth, respectively; with Australia’s Macquarie Group (USD 7bn) in eighth.

Both the HK-based firms and Macquarie were fresh-faced entrants among the top 10, with the former two working on the same large deal that catapulted them to the elite rankings. Gram Capital and Guotai Junan Securities worked on opposite sides of the same pending USD 16.5bn transaction – the former advising target Bank of Communications in its 15.65% stake sale to China National Tobacco and the Ministry of Finance, which was advised by the latter.

Among the regional rainmakers, Mizuho Financial Group and Nomura Holdings were placed third and fourth in Japan, respectively; Macquarie roared into first in Australasia; Gram Capital, Guotai Junan Securities, and CICC were placed third, fourth, and fifth in China, respectively; Kotak Investment Banking remained tenth in India; and Daiwa tied for fourth in South Korea.

In the deal count rankings, PwC was top dog in 2024 and 1Q24, while UBS and Goldman Sachs took silver and bronze, respectively.

Kings of buyouts

Financial sponsor buyouts rebounded as the decline in equity markets meant cheaper targets, while falling interest rates allowed for cheaper acquisition financing.

Citi (USD 42bn), JPMorgan (USD 41bn), and Goldman Sachs (USD 40bn) owned the lead places for buyouts, finishing neck and neck both in terms of deal value and deal count. Except for Barclays and Santander Corporate Investment Banking, all other top eight financial advisors recorded YoY rises in deal value, indicating financial sponsor buyouts are back with a bang.

Morgan Stanley (11), Goldman’s (10) and JPMorgan (9) topped the deal count charts.

Exit winners

Exit activity continued to blossom in 1Q25, as financial sponsors started to exit long-held portfolios.

Goldman Sachs stayed atop the value chart, with USD 97bn of exits, followed by Morgan Stanley (USD 77bn) and Barclays (USD 62bn). Barclays witnessed the highest deal value rise because of its sell-side counsel to Wiz, which is backed by several private-equity (PE) investors, including Blackstone, Advent International, Sequoia, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Houlihan Lokey retained its top spot in PE exits by deal count from both 2024 and 1Q24, with 23 deals to its name. New faces on the list included UBS, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America.

Please follow the link below to access the complete Global and Regional M&A Rankings 1Q24 report.