Evercore and Houlihan Lokey were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the financial services sector during the first half (H1) of 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest financial advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database has revealed that Evercore achieved the leading position in terms of value by advising on $38.6 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Houlihan Lokey led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 25 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Both Houlihan Lokey and Evercore registered year-on-year growth in terms of deal volume and value, respectively, in H1 2025 and their rankings by these metrics also showcased improvement. Houlihan Lokey had more than a double-fold jump in the total number of deals advised by it in H1 2025 compared to H1 2024, and its ranking by deal volume also improved from 12^th to the top position during the period.

“Similarly, Evercore registered 23.3% growth in the total value of deals advised by it and went ahead from occupying the fifth position by value in H1 2024 to top the chart by this metric in H1 2025. The involvement in $24 billion deal for the acquisition of Worldpay by Global Payments helped Evercore register a jump in deal value. Apart from leading by value, Evercore also held the eighth position by volume during H1 2025.”

JP Morgan occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $36.2 billion worth of deals, followed by Barclays with $31.8 billion, Morgan Stanley with $30.9 billion and UBS with $29.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Piper Sandler occupied the second position in terms of volume with 19 deals, followed by Stifel/KBW with 17 deals, JP Morgan with 14 deals and UBS with 12 deals.