Goldman Sachs M&A League Tables 2025: How the Bank Advised on $1.48 Trillion in Deals and What It Means for 2026

Goldman Sachs captured 32% of global M&A in the second-biggest dealmaking year in history. With $5 trillion+ in 2025 volumes and AI driving a new supercycle, here’s what the league tables reveal about where capital is flowing.

QUICK ANSWER

Goldman Sachs topped the global M&A league tables in 2025, advising on $1.48 trillion worth of mergers and acquisitions — a 32 per cent market share. Global dealmaking reached $4.5–$5 trillion in 2025, the second-busiest year on record behind 2021, with volumes up 40 per cent year-on-year and deals exceeding $500 million surging 74 per cent in the Americas, 150 per cent in EMEA and 300 per cent in APAC. Goldman led in pure M&A advisory fees with $4.6 billion, though JPMorgan earned more in total investment banking revenue ($10.1 billion vs Goldman’s $8.9 billion). A record 43 megadeals worth $10 billion or more were announced. For 2026, Goldman’s own outlook describes the environment as an “innovation supercycle” driven by AI, with M&A volumes expected to remain elevated as private equity sits on $4.3 trillion in dry powder.

Why did Goldman Sachs top the M&A league tables in 2025?

Goldman Sachs reclaimed the top spot in global M&A advisory through a combination of mega-deal positioning, geographic dominance and sector expertise in the industries driving the current dealmaking cycle.

The bank’s 32 per cent market share was its highest in a year that saw an unprecedented surge in large transactions. In EMEA specifically, Goldman captured 44.7 per cent of announced M&A activity — a level exceeded only once before, in 1999 during the dot-com merger frenzy. This commanding position reflects entrenched relationships with corporate boards and C-suites across regions, as well as Goldman’s ability to deploy global capital markets capabilities to facilitate cross-border transactions.

The 2025 M&A boom was inseparable from the shift in US antitrust policy under the Trump administration. A more permissive approach to merger oversight gave corporate boards the confidence to pursue scale-enhancing combinations that would have faced substantial regulatory challenges under previous administrations. As we reported in our analysis of Trump’s tariff strategy and why the EU is structurally outmatched, the combination of deregulation and aggressive trade policy is reshaping the entire transatlantic deal landscape.

How did the top investment banks rank in M&A fees?

The distinction between advisory volume and total revenue matters. While Goldman led the league tables on deal value, the fee picture is more nuanced.

In pure M&A advisory fees, the ranking was: Goldman Sachs at $4.6 billion, JPMorgan at $3.1 billion, Morgan Stanley at $3 billion, Citigroup at $2 billion and Evercore in fifth place. However, JPMorgan emerged as the highest-paid global investment bank overall when factoring in equity and debt capital markets revenue alongside advisory fees, collecting $10.1 billion in total IB fees compared with Goldman’s $8.9 billion, according to LSEG data.

Notably, Goldman did not advise on the year’s two largest individual transactions — the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern railway merger and the Warner Bros Discovery bidding contest. Bank of America, Barclays and Wells Fargo secured roles on those mega-deals. Wells Fargo’s performance was particularly striking: it advised on ten deals exceeding $10 billion and leapfrogged eight positions from 2024 to rank ninth globally.

Boutique banks also gained ground. Moelis, which advised Netflix on its Warner Bros bid, advanced three positions to finish 2025 ranked 16th globally.

What drove the 2025 M&A boom?

Three forces converged to produce the second-biggest dealmaking year in history.

First, the return of mega-deals. A record 43 transactions worth $10 billion or more were announced in 2025, with technology leading (26 mega-deals), followed by banking (13) and manufacturing (11). Deal value in the TMT sector surged 155 per cent year-on-year, while industrials rose 78 per cent. As we explored in our coverage of global dealmaking hitting $4.5 trillion, this was not merely cyclical recovery — it reflected a structural repricing of scale as a competitive advantage.

Second, AI as a deal catalyst. The entire AI value chain — data centres, semiconductors, power infrastructure, software, services — created what Goldman’s own outlook calls an “innovation supercycle” that is broadening the set of potential acquirors far beyond traditional tech companies. As we reported on the Meta-AMD multibillion-dollar chip deal, the infrastructure buildout is generating deal flow across sectors that would not historically have intersected.

Third, private equity at scale. Financial sponsors accounted for approximately 40 per cent of total US deal value in 2025, with take-private activity up 30 per cent year-on-year. Dry powder across the private capital ecosystem has reached $4.3 trillion, according to Morgan Stanley. As we analysed in our coverage of Europe’s $1.7 trillion private credit boom, private credit is increasingly replacing traditional bank financing in M&A structures — enabling larger, more complex transactions with greater speed and certainty.

What does the 2026 M&A outlook look like?

Every major investment bank — Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, BNP Paribas — expects elevated dealmaking to continue through 2026. Goldman’s head of global M&A, Stephan Feldgoise, described the second half of 2025 as rivalling 2021 activity levels, adding that the foundational drivers heading into 2026 remain “just as robust.”

PwC’s 2026 outlook identifies a “K-shaped” market: deal value remains elevated but is increasingly concentrated in the largest transactions and among the best-capitalised buyers. Smaller players face a tougher environment unless they can articulate a clear strategic edge.

Cross-border activity hit a four-year high in 2025, with $150 billion in net inbound investment flows to the Americas. European and Japanese companies are accelerating US acquisitions to onshore operations and secure market access ahead of potential tariff escalation. As we examined in our analysis of why investors are leaving Wall Street for European equities, the capital flow picture is becoming genuinely bidirectional for the first time in years.

For European M&A specifically, the environment is double-edged. On one hand, European companies are attractive acquisition targets — family-owned industrial businesses needing digital transformation capital, and mid-caps seeking scale. On the other, the AI capex supercycle could place upward pressure on the cost of capital over time, particularly if returns from AI investments prove uneven.

The EY-Parthenon Deal Barometer forecasts a 3 per cent increase in overall deal volume for 2026, with private equity volumes expected to grow 5 per cent as sponsors face mounting pressure to return capital to limited partners.

What does this mean for European dealmakers?

Goldman’s 44.7 per cent EMEA market share signals where the advisory power sits — but it also signals the scale of European corporate activity that is increasingly being intermediated through US-headquartered banks. For European investment banks, the competitive challenge is existential.

The structural factors favouring continued European M&A include: record private equity dry powder seeking deployment, a resurgent IPO market providing exit optionality, family-owned businesses requiring succession solutions, and the EU’s own regulatory push toward consolidation in banking and defence. As we reported in our analysis of the new EU rules positioning Luxembourg at the centre of Europe’s VC boom, the regulatory framework is actively being redesigned to facilitate cross-border capital formation.

The current M&A cycle is being defined not by volume but by conviction. As Barclays’ co-head of investment banking put it: this is not a volume cycle — it is a conviction cycle. The firms and advisors that can navigate AI-driven transformation, geopolitical complexity and evolving capital structures will capture a disproportionate share of the fee pool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who topped the global M&A league tables in 2025?

Goldman Sachs topped the global M&A league tables in 2025, advising on $1.48 trillion in deals with a 32 per cent market share. In pure advisory fees, Goldman led with $4.6 billion, ahead of JPMorgan ($3.1 billion) and Morgan Stanley ($3 billion). JPMorgan earned more in total investment banking revenue when including capital markets activity.

How big was the global M&A market in 2025?

Global M&A reached $4.5–$5 trillion in 2025, making it the second-busiest year on record. Volumes rose 40 per cent year-on-year, with a record 43 mega-deals worth $10 billion or more. Technology led sector activity with 26 mega-deals. Deal value in TMT surged 155 per cent and industrials rose 78 per cent.

What is driving M&A in 2026?

Three forces are driving M&A into 2026: AI as an “innovation supercycle” accelerating strategic acquisitions across sectors, private equity sitting on $4.3 trillion in dry powder with mounting pressure to deploy capital and exit aging portfolio companies, and cross-border activity at a four-year high as companies onshore operations ahead of potential tariff escalation.