Goldman Sachs was the leading financial adviser globally for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in H1 2019 in the consumer sector, according to GlobalData.

The investment bank advised on 24 deals worth a combined $43.4bn, including the big ticket deal, Merlin Entertainments’ acquisition by KIRKBI Invest, Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for $7.56bn.

It figured in the first position in GlobalData’s H1 2019 ranking of top 20 financial advisers for global mergers and acquisitions.

GlobalData has published a top ten league table of financial advisers ranked according to the value of announced M&A deals globally. If value remains same for multiple advisers, deal volume is given weightage.

Credit Suisse trailed Goldman Sachs, clocking 12 deals worth $35.4bn. With 12 deals valued at $29.1bn, Duetsche Bank figured at third position.

 

The consumer sector saw an 8.5% plunge in deal value from $170.3bn in H1 2018 to $155.7bn in H1 2019. On the contrary, deal volumes grew by 39.46% from 1,835 in H1 2018 to 2,559 in H1 2019.

UK-based law firm Latham & Watkins led the chart of top ten legal advisers in terms of value. It provided legal services for 21 deals worth a combined $37.0bn.  Kirkland & Ellis advised on 32 deals worth $28.2bn. In the global league table of top 20 legal advisers for H1 2019, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz topped the list. Latham & Watkins stood at eight position, while Kirkland & Ellis figured at second position.

Nagarjun Sura, financial deals analyst at GlobalData, said: “Latham & Watkins emerged as the top legal adviser in the consumer sector, mainly driven by its involvement in the big-ticket deal – Eldorado Resorts acquisition of Caesars Entertainment for $17.3bn. Though Kirkland & Ellis advised on the highest number of deals among the top ten advisers, it remained at second position in value terms due to its involvement in low-value transactions.”

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.

To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions from leading advisers, through adviser submission forms on GlobalData’s website