Barclays and Houlihan Lokey were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the technology, media and telecom sector during the first half (H1) of 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest financial advisers league table by GlobalData, which ranks financial advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised.

Based on its Deals Database, the leading data and analytics company has revealed that Barclays achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $51.3 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Houlihan Lokey led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 34 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Houlihan Lokey was the top adviser by deal volume in H1 2024 and managed to retain its leadership position by this metric in H1 2025 despite experiencing year-on-year fall in the total number of deals advised by it. It is noteworthy that eight of top 10 advisers by volume experienced a decline in the total number of deals advised by them during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024.

“Meanwhile, Barclays registered a massive 170.6% jump in the total value of deals advised by it during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024. Resultantly, its ranking by value took a leap from the 10^th position in H1 2024 to the top position in H1 2025. Involvement in $32 billion Google–Wiz deal played a crucial role in Barclays registering the massive jump in its ranking.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Goldman Sachs occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $48.8 billion worth of deals, followed by JP Morgan with $42.1 billion, Evercore with $40.3 billion, and Morgan Stanley with $37 billion.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan occupied the second position in terms of volume with 28 deals, followed by Goldman Sachs with 19 deals, Evercore with 19 deals, and Clearwater with 18 deals.