Goldman Sachs emerged as the top financial adviser for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by both value and volume in North America for Q1 2021, having advised on 84 deals worth US$184.3bn. A total of 3,927 M&A deals were announced in the region during Q1 2021, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and North America M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables Q1 2021’, deal value for the region increased by 132.2% from US$208bn in Q1 2020 to US$483bn in Q1 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Goldman Sachs was among the very few advisers that managed to surpass the US$100bn mark. Moreover, it registered a significant jump of 127% and 183.4% in the total volume and value of advised deals in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020, respectively. The firm also managed to advise on 29 billion-dollar deals (deals worth greater than or equal to US$1bn), which also included three megadeals valued more than US$10bn. Involvement in such big-ticket deals, coupled with the significant jump in the total volume and value of advised deals, helped the firm to also occupy the top spot.”

Bank of America occupied the second position in GlobalData’s ranking of financial advisers for M&As in North America by value with 53 deals worth US$140.1bn, followed by JP Morgan with 80 deals worth a total US$133.7bn and Barclays with 46 deals worth US$93.2bn.

JP Morgan and Bank of America also occupied the second and third position by volume in Q1 2021, respectively, followed by Jefferies with 53 deals worth US$30bn.