Goldman Sachs and Houlihan Lokey were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the North American region for H1 2023 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 data and analytics company has revealed that Goldman Sachs achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $178.8 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Houlihan Lokey led in volume terms by advising on a total of 84 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “All the top 10 advisers by volume, including Houlihan Lokey, registered a decline in the number of deals advised in H1 2023 compared to H1 2022. However, despite the decline, Houlihan Lokey managed to retain its leadership position by volume in H1 2023.

“Similarly, Goldman Sachs was also able to retain its leadership position by value despite experiencing a decline in the total value of deals it advised on. In addition, it featured among the only two advisers that managed to surpass the $150 billion mark in total deal value in H1 2023 amid challenging market conditions.

“Goldman Sachs advised on 26 billion-dollar deals*, which also included six mega deals valued more than $10 billion. Involvement in these big-ticket deals helped the firm top the chart by value. Apart from leading by value, Goldman Sachs also occupied the third position by volume.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Bank of America occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $159.5 billion worth of deals, followed by JP Morgan, with $148.9 billion, Centerview Partners, with $128.1 billion and Morgan Stanley, with $91.4 billion.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan occupied the second position in terms of volume with 63 deals, followed by Goldman Sachs, with 58 deals, Raymond James Financial, with 49 deals and Piper Sandler, with 46 deals.

*Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion