JP Morgan was the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial adviser in South & Central America for Q1 2021 by both value and volume. JP Morgan advised on three deals worth US$9.7bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. A total of 190 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 South & Central America M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables Q1 2021’, reveals that deal value increased by 250% from US$12bn in Q1 2020 to US$42bn in Q1 2021 in the region.

Ravi Tokala, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “JP Morgan emerged as a clear winner both in terms of value and volume and registered 1404.2% growth in value terms compared with Q1 2020. The billion-dollar merger of Hapvida Health System with Notre Dame Intermedica played an instrumental role in the ranking as the top four advisers by value (JP Morgan, Itau Unibanco, Citi and BTG Pactual) were involved in this deal.

“Despite a spike in South & Central American targeted deals, no advisors were able to cross US$10bn mark, which is attributed to the absence of megadeals valued more than US$10bn.”

Itau Unibanco occupied the second position in terms of both value and volume with two deals worth US$9.3bn. Both Citi and BTG Pactual occupied the third rank by value with one deal worth US$9.1bn.

Rothschild & Co occupied the third position by volume with two deals worth US$0.5bn, followed by Citi and BTG Pactual.