Goldman Sachs has dominated the latest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) league table of the top 10 financial advisers for the automotive sector based on deal value in the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The American investment bank advised on eight deals worth a combined US$11.9bn. According to GlobalData, which tracks all M&A, private equity/venture capital and asset transaction activity around the world to compile the league tables, JP Morgan trailed Goldman Sachs with three deals worth US$9.0bn. With six deals valued at US$8.7bn, Lazard stood at third position.

Ravi Tokala, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The slow trend in M&A activities in the automotive sector continued in Q1-Q3 2019, witnessing a major drop in overall deal value as compared with the same period last year. However, Goldman Sachs was able to cross US$10bn mark, in deal value terms, due to its involvement in two big-ticket deals ZF Friedrichshafen’s acquisition of Wabco Holdings and Investment Global’s acquisition of 5% stake in Daimler.”

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Global automotive deals market in Q1-Q3 2019

The automotive sector saw a 26.04% plunge in deal value from US$40.72bn in Q1-Q3 2018 to US$30.12bn in Q1-Q3 2019. Deal volume, however, witnessed a 47.87% surge from 282 to 417.

Goldman Sachs, which topped the automotive league table of M&A financial advisers, stood at top position in GlobalData’s recently released global league table of top 20 M&A financial advisers.

Latham &Watkins tops list of top 10 M&A legal advisers

Law firm Latham & Watkins led the chart of top 10 legal advisers in Q1-Q3 2019. Although Latham & Watkins and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised on deals worth US$7.7bn, the former gained an edge in terms of volume. Latham & Watkins provided legal services to four deals while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton worked on two deals. Third position was occupied by Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom having advised on two deals each worth US$7.4bn.

In the global league table of top M&A 20 legal advisers, Latham & Watkins was at eighth position. Clifford Chance stood at fifteenth position while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom stood at tenth position.