Leading Financial Advisory Roles in Mergers and Acquisitions During the First Half of 2025 Secured by JP Morgan and Houlihan Lokey
In the bustling world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the first half of 2025 has seen a significant shake-up in the global rankings, with JP Morgan taking the lead. According to the latest report from GlobalData's Financial Deals Database, JP Morgan has secured the top spot in deal value, advising on transactions amounting to $237.1bn.
JP Morgan's dominance in the M&A market is not limited to deal value alone. The banking giant also led the way in terms of deal volume, advising on 108 transactions during the same period, making it the only adviser to hit triple-digit deal volume. Six of these deals were mega deals valued more than $10bn.
Interestingly, JP Morgan shared the leadership positions in H1 2024 with Houlihan Lokey, a position they have managed to retain in 2025. Houlihan Lokey, however, led by deal volume, facilitating a total of 128 transactions during the same period.
In the broader M&A landscape, other top advisers by deal value include Goldman Sachs, which held the second position with $217.2bn in deal value, Morgan Stanley in third with $177.5bn, and Barclays in fifth with $146.1bn. Goldman Sachs also advised on 93 deals during the same period.
The rankings by deal volume saw Barclays in fifth position with 26 transactions, followed by Goldman Sachs with 75 deals, Morgan Stanley with 61 deals, and Citi with 56 deals. Citi ranked fourth with $171.1bn in deal value.
GlobalData's league tables are based on real-time tracking of thousands of company and advisory firm websites, ensuring further robustness to the data. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
In the APAC region, Evercore was the top financial adviser by deal value, advising on $11.1 billion worth of deals, including three billion-dollar deals. UBS led by deal volume with 19 deals and ranked fifth by value ($4.3 billion). In North America, Kirkland & Ellis dominated with 197 deals valued at $161.7 billion, the highest in both volume and value.
In the legal advisory sector, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz led by deal value globally, while Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison led in deal volume. These rankings underscore the dynamic and competitive nature of the global M&A market.
[1] GlobalData Financial Deals Database, H1 2025 [2] GlobalData Financial Deals Database, APAC region, H1 2025 [3] GlobalData Financial Deals Database, North America, H1 2025
JP Morgan's lead in the M&A market extends to both deal value and volume, as they advised on the highest number of transactions and six mega deals worth over $10bn in H1 2025. [1]
In the first half of 2025, JP Morgan shared the leadership position in terms of deal volume with Houlihan Lokey, but surpassed them in terms of deal value. [1]
