10 leading financial advisors accounted for $5.8 trillion of M&A deals value in 2022
The world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has seen its fair share of big deals and influential transactions in recent years. A significant share of the transactions has been handled by a select group of financial advisors who oversaw deals running into billions of dollars despite the changing economic health.
In particular, according to data acquired and calculated by Finbold on February 2, the top ten leading global M&A advisors accounted for deals valued at $5.84 trillion in 2022. The value represented a drop of about 37.5% or $2.87 trillion from the $8.71 trillion registered in 2021.
Banking giant Goldman Sachs emerged as the leading M&A advisor by value in 2022, overseeing 393 deals worth $1.24 trillion, or a drop of 29.87% from 2021’s $1.77 trillion. JPMorgan, with 360 deals, ranked second at $915.3 billion, representing a drop of 38.82% from 2021. With deals valued at $836.8 billion in 2022, Morgan Stanley ranked third, with the value of the deals representing a year-over-year decrease of 34%.
Elsewhere, Bank of America Securities represented the fourth-highest deal value last year at $689 billion from 285 activities. Last year, Citi ranked fifth with deals worth $671 billion, representing a YoY drop of 25.95%. Barclays emerged sixth with 208 deals valued at $458.1 billion, or a fall of 37.24% from 2021’s figure of $729.9 billion.
Furthermore, Credit Suisse, with deals valued at $311.2 billion, ranked in the seventh spot, while Evercore Inc deals with a valuation of $247.2 billion, placed the bank in the eighth spot, followed by BNP Paribas at $238 billion. Notably, Rothschild & Co accounted for the highest number of deals in 2022 at 411, bringing the valuation to $237.8 billion to rank tenth.
Economic turmoil’s impact on M&A valuations
The research highlighted factors that likely influenced the 2022 valuation of deals handled by the ten leading financial advisors. According to the research report:
“Overall, the data shows a clear contrast in the number of deals and valuations handled by the ten financial advisors between the two years. The contrast can also be linked to the 2022 uncertainty that engulfed the financial markets stemming from geopolitical instability, rising inflation, supply chain challenges, and regulatory changes.”
As 2023 unfolds, the financial advisors will look forward to improvement in financial markets as a trigger to accelerate their involvement in M&A activity.
