Morgan Stanley and KPMG were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in Europe during the first quarter (Q1) of 2026 by value and volume, respectively according to the latest financial advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform..

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Morgan Stanley achieved thes leading position in terms of value by advising on $56.3 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, KPMG led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 23 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Both Morgan Stanley and KPMG registered year-on-year (YoY) improvement in the value and volume of deals advised by them in Q1 2026. Resultantly, their ranks by these metrics also improved. The number of deals advised by KPMG increased by 53.3% YoY and its ranking by volume improved from the ninth to the top position.

“Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley registered more than four-fold jump in the total value of deals advised by it, which helped its ranking improve from the fourth position to the top spot. 11 of the 18 deals advised by Morgan Stanley during Q1 2026 were billion-dollar deals* that also include a mega deal valued more than $10 billion. The involvement in these big-ticket deals helped Morgan Stanley register a massive jump in terms of value.”

Citi occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $40.4 billion worth of deals, followed by Barclays with $37.3 billion, Lazard with $30.4 billion and Rothschild & Co with $27.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Ernst & Young occupied the second position in terms of volume with 20 deals, followed by Houlihan Lokey with 20 deals, PWC with 20 deals and Rothschild & Co with 19 deals.

*Deals valued ≥ $1 billion