Morgan Stanley and Rothschild & Co were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in Europe 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 Morgan Stanley achieved the top position in terms of value by advising on $128.3 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Rothschild & Co led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 48 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Morgan Stanley registered more than a five-fold year-on-year jump in the total value of deals advised by it and was the only adviser to surpass $100 billion-mark in total deal value in H1 2026. During this period, it advised on 18 billion-dollar deals* that also included three mega deals valued more than $10 billion and involvement in these big-ticket deals helped Morgan Stanley register a massive jump in terms of value.

“Morgan Stanley also held the sixth position by volume in H1 2026. Similarly, Rothschild & Co, apart from leading by volume, also occupied the ninth position by value.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Goldman Sachs occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $97.8 billion worth of deals, followed by Barclays with $88.2 billion, Bank of America with $70.6 billion, and JPMorgan with $65.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Houlihan Lokey occupied the second position in terms of volume with 45 deals, followed by KPMG with 44 deals, PWC with 44 deals, and Ernst & Young with 40 deals.

*Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion