Top 3 M&A Financial Advisers Deals Rose Above $555 Billion

According to research data analyzed and published by Stock Apps, there was a 15.1% YoY decline in the number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in H1 2020. Globally, the number dropped to 24,698 compared to 29,096 in H1 2019. Similarly, the total deal value sank by 44.7% from $1.85 trillion to $1.02 trillion.

However, according to Refinitive, Q3 2020 got off to a record start with at least 21 deals valued at $5 billion or more. These deals were worth a total of $256 billion.

Deal Value Down by 31% in First Eight Months of 2020

Goldman Sachs had the highest deal value during H1 2020, serving as an adviser in 113 deals worth $205.9 billion. Among these deals were 41 billion-dollar transactions, including five deals worth $10 billion or more.

As a result, it was the only firm to surpass the $200 billion mark. It outpaced the second adviser, JP Morgan, by a huge margin as the latter had $178.9 billion. In total, the top three firms by deal value accounted for almost half of the total with $555.6 billion.

Only five of the top 20 advisers had positive growth year-over-year (YoY) in H1 2020, led by Societe Generale at 3,722.91%. Evercore had the largest decline of 91.15% YoY.

In terms of deal volume, Ernst & Young took the lead with 137 deals worth $30.6 billion. Deloitte had the biggest drop of 54.81%. According to PwC, there were only three megadeals in Q2 2020 compared to 18 in Q2 2019.

In Q3 2020, August saw a remarkable performance with nine deals worth $5 billion or higher. The tech sector led the surge with 27% of all activity worldwide. However, despite the strong activity noted in Q3, global deal activity was still down by 31% between January and August 2020. The US led the drop with a 50% decline, while APAC grew 9% and Europe rose by 2%.