Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co have emerged as the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers by value and volume for 2023, respectively, in 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 reveals that Goldman Sachs achieved the leading position in the deal value rankings by advising on $500.8 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Rothschild & Co led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 260 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Grappled with several challenges and uncertainties, deal activity remained subdued in 2023. Against this backdrop, most of the top 20 advisers by value as well as volume registered a decline in the number of deals they advised on and the corresponding deal value during 2023 compared to the previous year. In fact, the dent in deal-making sentiments also impacted Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co.

“However, Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co managed to retain their leadership positions by value and volume, respectively. Goldman Sachs advised on 76 billion-dollar deals*, of which 13 were mega deals valued more than $10 billion. Involvement in such big-ticket deals helped Goldman Sachs emerge as the only adviser to surpass the $500 billion mark in total deal value during the year. Meanwhile, Rothschild & Co and Houlihan Lokey were the only two advisers to advise on more than 200 deals during 2023.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Houlihan Lokey occupied the second position in terms of volume by advising on 230 deals, followed by KPMG with 188 deals, Lazard with 167 deals, and PwC with 167 deals.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $412.5 billion worth of deals, followed by JP Morgan with $343.5 billion, Bank of America with $334.6 billion, and Citi with $246.1 billion.

*Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion