Goldman Sachs was the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial adviser in the first half (H1) of 2020 based on deal value, having advised on 113 deals worth US$205.9bn, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

JP Morgan occupied the second position with 105 deals worth US$178.9bn followed by Morgan Stanley with 92 deals worth US$170.8bn.

Aurojyoti Bose, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The COVID-19 outbreak impacted deal making during H1 2020 with 15 of the top 20 advisers (by total deal value) witnessing decline in advised deal value in H1 2020 compared with H1 2019.

“Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs was the only adviser that managed to cross the US$200bn mark in H1 2020 outpacing the majority of its peers by a great margin. It was the firm’s advise on some big-ticket deals that helped it top the list. It advised on 41 billion-dollar deals (deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn), out of which five were megadeals (>US$10bn).”

Ernst & Young was the top M&A financial adviser in H1 2020 based on deal volume. The firm advised on 137 deals worth US$30.6bn. Goldman Sachs occupied the second position with 113 deals worth US$205.9bn followed by Rothschild & Co with 110 deals worth US$82.4bn, according to GlobalData.

Bose comments: “In terms of deal volume, Ernst & Young emerged as the top financial adviser in H1 2020. However, the firm settled at 17^th rank in value terms due to its involvement in low-value transactions and few big-ticket deals. The firm advised on only five billion-dollar deals. However, it was among the very few firms that managed to showcase growth in advised deal volume as well as value in H1 2020 compared with H1 2019”

“In contrast, 16 of the top 20 advisers (by total deals volume) witnessed decline in advised deal volume in H1 2020 compared with H1 2019.”.

Global deal landscape in H1 2020

Deal activity remained subdued during H1 2020 on the back of volatile market conditions due to COVID-19 outbreak. In H1 2020, 24,698 deals were announced globally, marking a 15.1% decrease from 29,096 deals in H1 2019, according to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database. Deal value also decreased by 44.7% from US$1,852.7bn in H1 2019 to US$1,024.2bn in H1 2020.