Jefferies and JP Morgan were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in Middle East & Africa for Q1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Jefferies advised on two deals worth US$10.2bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, JP Morgan led in volume terms having advised on six deals worth US$6.3bn. A total of 240 M&A deals were announced in the region during Q1 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Middle East & Africa M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables Q1 2021’, reveals that deal value increased by 184.6% from US$13bn in Q1 2020 to US$37bn in Q1 2021 in the region.

Ravi Tokala, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The megadeal (valued more than US$10bn), which involved ironSource’s merger with Thoma Bravo Advantage, turned the tables in the region, as three of its advisers made it into the top five. This led to a close competition for the top position by value. However, Jefferies managed to top the chart with US$10.2bn, very closely followed by Citi, which occupied the second position with US$10bn.

“JP Morgan held the top spot in terms of deal volume but lagged behind many of its peers in terms of deal value, despite advising on two billion-dollar deals (deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn).”

Citi occupied the second position in terms of value with two deals worth US$10bn, followed by Goldman Sachs with one deal worth US$10bn and JP Morgan.

Rothschild & Co occupied the second position by volume with five deals worth US$1.1bn, followed by Cowen with four deals worth US$3.2bn and KPMG with three deals worth US$2.2bn.