Goldman Sachs and PwC were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the global construction sector for 2020 by value and volume respectively. Goldman Sachs advised on 14 deals worth $61.4bn, which was the highest value among all advisers. Meanwhile, PwC led in volume terms having advised on 23 deals worth $3.9bn. A total 3,693 M&A deals were announced in sector during 2020, marking a 6.3% decrease over the 3,943 deals announced in 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Construction M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables 2020’, deal value decreased by 31.5% from $485bn in 2019 to $332bn in 2020.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “PwC was the only firm that managed to advise more than 20 deals. However, it failed to find a spot among the list of top ten advisers by value due to its involvement in low-value transactions.

“On the other hand, Goldman Sachs advised on relatively fewer deals, including two mega deals valued more than or equal to $10bn. This helped it to occupy the top spot by value. PwC advised on a single billion-dollar deal worth greater than or equal to $1bn.”

JP Morgan occupied the second position in GlobalData’s ranking of financial advisers for M&As in the global construction sector by value with 15 deals worth $58.3bn, followed by Deutsche Bank with seven deals worth $38.6bn and Citi with 13 deals worth $33.7bn.

Ernst & Young occupied the second position by volume with 17 deals worth $21.3bn followed by Rothschild & Co with 16 deals worth $27.1bn.