Goldman Sachs, currently the No. 1 financial advisor globally, has advised on a record breaking $1.521 trillion worth of announced M&A transactions through 11 months – 25% more than the firm’s previous record—and the year’s not even over yet.
This is the first time any adviser has joined the $1.5 trillion club. The firm’s last yearly record was in 2007 when it advised on $1.215 trillion of deals.
The results also give the firm a 39% market share of global M&A to date, representing Goldman’s second highest share ever, with the 46% record set in 1999 well within reach before the end of 2015.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is flying the flag for legal advisors, being the first law firm ever to advise on more than $900 billion worth of announced M&A transactions. Its total was $933 billion – with the trillion dollar mark in sight before the end of the year.
With record deal numbers comes the possibility of record revenues for Financial Advisory services. For the nine months ended September 2015, Goldman Sachs’s Investment Banking division reported revenues of $2.6 billion from its FA services segment – a massive 45% increase compared to the same period in 2014. The firm generated record revenues of $4.2 billion from FA services in 2007 on $1.215 trillion worth of announced M&A transactions, or 0.35%. With 41% of its $1.521 billion announced deal total coming in October and November alone, the firm is sitting on a healthy pipeline to not only close out the year but pave the way for a successful 2016.
Three of the top five deals Goldman worked on in 2015, representing a total value of $367 billion, are expected to close on or after October 31, 2016, including the Pfizer-Allergan merger announced on November 23. Valued at a staggering $184 billion, this deal not only represents the second largest deal in history, but also ensures that 2015 will become the new benchmark for M&A value totals.
Through November, the total value of announced M&A transactions stood at $3.882 trillion, a full $216 billion more than the previous record set in 2007 ($ 3.666 trillion) – with all of December, historically one of the busiest months of the year, still to go.
Data via Sola Akinola, Global Head of Deals & Data Content at Mergermarket
Goldman Sachs, Skadden Log Record Deal Totals – Infographic
