JP Morgan and Rothschild & Co were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the Middle East & Africa for H1 2021 by value and volume, respectively. JP Morgan advised on nine deals worth US$20.5bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Rothschild & Co led in volume terms having advised on 12 deals worth US$2.4bn. A total of 537 M&A deals were announced in the region during H1 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Middle East & Africa M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables H1 2021’, deal value for the region declined by 1.8% from US$57bn in H1 2020 to US$56bn in H1 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Rothschild & Co was the only advisor to have double-digit deal volume. Despite this, the company lagged behind its peers in terms of value and had to settle for last place in the list of top ten advisors by value – a list that included some firms that advised on one deal only.

“Companies’ involvement in big-ticket deals remains key as advising on three billion-dollar deals (valued more than or equal to US$1bn), including one deal worth greater than or equal to US$10bn, helped JP Morgan top the chart by value. Incidentally, JP Morgan was the only adviser that managed to surpass the US$20bn mark during H1 2021.”

Moelis & Co occupied second position in terms of value with two deals worth US$12.5bn, followed by Nedbank Group with one deal worth US$4bn, KPMG with five deals worth US$3.3bn and Jefferies with four deals worth US$3.2bn.

JP Morgan occupied the second position in terms of volume, followed by KPMG and Jefferies. Citi occupied fifth position by volume with four deals worth US$2.9bn.