10 leading financial advisors accounted for 5.8 trillion dollars 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 dollars in 2022. The value represented a drop of about 37.5% or 2.87 trillion dollars from the 8.71 trillion dollars 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 dollars, or a drop of 29.87% from 2021’s 1.77 trillion dollars. JPMorgan, with 360 deals, ranked second at 915.3 billion dollars, representing a drop of 38.82% from 2021. With deals valued at 836.8 billion dollars 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 dollars from 285 activities. Last year, Citi ranked fifth with deals worth 671 billion dollars, representing a YoY drop of 25.95%. Barclays emerged sixth with 208 deals valued at 458.1 billion dollars, or a fall of 37.24% from 2021’s figure of 729.9 billion dollars.

Furthermore, Credit Suisse, with deals valued at 311.2 billion dollars, ranked in the seventh spot, while Evercore Inc deals with a valuation of 247.2 billion dollars, placed the bank in the eighth spot, followed by BNP Paribas at 238 billion dollars. Notably, Rothschild & Co accounted for the highest number of deals in 2022 at 411, bringing the valuation to 237.8 billion dollars 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.