Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the consumer sector during the first half (H1) of 2026 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 Financial Deals Database, the leading intelligence and productivity platform has revealed that Goldman Sachs achieved the top position in terms of value by advising on $54.1 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Rothschild & Co led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 11 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “There was a marginal improvement in the total number of deals advised by Rothschild & Co., which helped its ranking by volume improve from second position in H1 2025 to the top position in H1 2026. It also held the fourth position by value in H1 2026.

“Meanwhile, there was a significant jump in the total value of deals advised by Goldman Sachs in H1 2026 compared to H1 2025. Resultantly, its ranking by value moved from fourth position in H1 2025 to the top position in H1 2026. Involvement in $44.8 billion deal for the merger of Unilever’s Foods Business with McCormick played a pivotal role in Goldman Sachs registering a massive jump in terms of value and securing the top spot by this metric.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Citi occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $53.6 billion worth of deals, followed by Morgan Stanley with $52.6 billion, Rothschild & Co with $46.8 billion, and Bank of America with $10.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley occupied the second position in terms of volume with 10 deals, followed by PwC with 10 deals, Houlihan Lokey with 10 deals, and Goldman Sachs with nine deals.