Goldman Sachs has dominated the latest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) league table of the top 10 financial advisers in the retail sector based on deal value in 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The American investment bank advised on 16 deals worth US$62.0bn, including the big ticket deal of EP Global’s bid for a 100% stake in Metro.

According to GlobalData, which tracks all M&A, private equity/venture capital and asset transaction activity around the world to compile the league tables, JP Morgan ranked second with 19 deals worth US$46.6bn.

Nagarjun Sura, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s acquisition of Tiffany was instrumental in determining the top four legal rakings of the Retail sector. Kirkland settled in fifth position despite recording the largest volume at 29 deals. With respect to deal value, only Goldman Sachs was able to cross the $50bn mark, topping the financial adviser category.”

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Global retail deals market in 2019

The retail sector saw deal volume increase by 36.77% from 1,879 in 2018 to 2,570 in 2019. Deal value increased by 6.94% from US$151.7bn in 2018 to US$162.3bn in 2019.

Goldman Sachs, which topped the retail league table of M&A financial advisers, also claimed top position in GlobalData’s recently released global league table of top 20 M&A financial advisers.

Sullivan & Cromwell leads top 10 M&A legal advisers list

Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell emerged as the lead player in the list of top 10 legal advisers, in terms of deal value. It advised on seven deals worth a combined US$37.6bn. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton occupied second position in terms of value, advising on nine deals worth US$26.2bn. In the global league table of top 20 M&A legal advisers, Sullivan & Cromwell landed third position. The global league table was led by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.