JP Morgan and Rothschild & Co were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the power sector in 2021 by value and volume, respectively. JP Morgan advised on 22 deals worth US$73.4 billion and Rothschild & Co led in volume terms having advised on 32 deals worth US$48.9 billion. A total of 2,506 M&A deals were announced in the sector during 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Global and Power M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables 2021’, reveals that deal value for the sector increased by 46.1% from US$260.6 billion during 2020 to US$380.8 billion during 2021. The top Power M&A deals announced in 2021 included the acquisitions of Suez by Veolia Environnement SA (US$23.1 billion) and Western Power Distribution by National Grid (US$10.8 billion).

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Rothschild & Co was the only firm that managed to advise on more than 30 deals during 2021 and was the clear winner in terms of volume. In contrast, JP Morgan faced strong competition when it came to deal value with Goldman Sachs, only US$167 million behind them in second place.”

JP Morgan moved from fourth position to take the top value ranking this year with deals worth US$73.4 billion. Goldman Sachs occupied second position in terms of value with 27 deals worth US$73.2 billion, followed by Bank of America in third with 14 deals worth US$55.5 billion, with Rothschild & Co in fourth and Citi in fifth.

In volume terms, Goldman Sachs also occupied second position with 27 deals. Citi achieved 27 deals but their value was slightly lower than Goldman Sachs at US$44.6 billion, which placed them in third position. Barclays was in fourth with 25 deals worth US$35.4 billion, followed by Ernst & Young in fifth with 25 deals worth $1.2 billion.