World’s Best Investment Banks 2025: Global Winners By Sector

The top three sectors when it comes to dealmaking, according to McKinsey, are global energy and materials (GEM); telecom, media, and technology (TMT); and financial services. “You saw some big [TMT] deals in the US, but also here in Europe,” McKinsey’s Mieke Van Oostende, a senior partner in Brussels and co-leader of the consultancy’s global M&A practice, tells Global Finance. “Another sector that made a major jump is banking, which includes private equity.”

The GEM sector’s wave of M&A was driven by the race for resource security. Industry giants executed transformative deals, signaling strategic shifts toward renewables and integrated energy solutions.

One of the year’s largest transactions was Diamondback Energy’s $26 billion merger with Endeavor Energy Resources. Mineral resources also took center stage. Rio Tinto purchased miner Arcadium Lithium for $6.7 billion; lithium is considered vital for the electric-vehicle and battery-storage industries.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company finalized its acquisition of the major German chemical company Covestro for over $16 billion. Also in Europe, the Spanish multinational electric-utility company Iberdrola acquired an 88% stake in the UK’s Electricity North West for €2.5 billion (about $2.7 billion). The transaction supports Iberdrola’s focus on electricity grids as the continent increasingly prioritizes grid resilience and modernization.

In the TMT sector, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority approved a $19 billion merger between telecommunication companies Vodafone UK and Three UK, creating a mobile network provider with more than 27 million customers. In Italy, Telecom Italia sold its landline network to US fund KKR for €22 billion, with the Italian government acquiring a 16% stake in the network. In Australia, TPG Telecom sold its fiber-and fixed-network infrastructure assets to Vocus (owned by Macquarie Asset Management and superannuation-fund Aware Super) for A$5.25 billion ($3.3 billion).

Van Oostende expects banking consolidation to continue, as more countries look for “soft landings” thanks to lowering interest and inflation rates.            —Anthony Noto

In 2024, UBS showed strong net profit and high client activities. The Swiss giant’s underlying transaction-based income is up by double digits with strong revenue growth in global banking and global markets. It also granted or renewed over CHF70 billion (more than $79 billion) of loans in Switzerland throughout the year. UBS also advised Swiss financial services company SIX Group on its acquisition of Aquis Exchange for 225 million British pounds ($291 million), a move that bolstered the European exchange market.

This year, UBS expects attractive capital returns to continue, accruing around 10% growth in dividends per share. The bank plans to repurchase $1 billion in shares in the first half of 2025 and an additional $2 billion in the second half.  —Lyndsey Zhang

J.P. Morgan’s effort to generate dealmaking and business dialogue through its annual Healthcare Conference continued to pay off last year, despite a challenging time for deals in general.

With healthcare and life sciences M&A deal volumes down a hefty 28% for the first 10 months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, according to Bain & Co. research, the mammoth bank still managed to participate as a key adviser in several of the sector’s main transactions. In the landmark $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent by life sciences investor Novo Holdings, completed in December—the sector’s largest for the year—the bank acted as a lead financial adviser for the sell side. It also had a key role as exclusive financial adviser to International Flavors & Fragrances in the sale of its pharma-solutions business to the huge French food-ingredient maker Roquette for $2.85 billion.      —Thomas Monteiro

Brazil’s Bradesco BBI sponsored several of the most important deals of the year in industrials and chemicals. Amid a volatile year in the Brazilian market, variety and quick anticipation of market trends were the keys to the bank’s success. It sponsored deals ranging all the way from M&A to equity notes and corporate bonds.

In the public sector, Bradesco BBI acted as a bookrunner for Petrobras’ $1 billion issuance of dollar-denominated global notes due in 2035. In the private sector, it acted as the lead coordinator of bioethanol and sugar titan Cosan’s $500 million note issuance. Bradesco also advised Brazilian oil and gas producer Enauta in its merger with 3R Petroleum for approximately $1.2 billion—a landmark deal for the sector. In industrials, the bank acted as a bookrunner for automobile components maker Iochpe-Maxion’s $130 million corporate debt issuance, as well as Ford’s and Toyota’s bond offerings of $500 million each.   —TM

It was a record-setting year for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with more than $17 billion invested in infrastructure and development projects globally, representing a 30% increase in year over year. More important than the dollar value, however, was the sheer impact of the EBRD’s many initiatives. It have helped support positive change from the reconstruction of Ukraine to vital green-energy lines in Central Asi to generating key agricultural infrastructure in Moldova. In Ukraine, the bank deployed $2.6 billion aimed at promoting energy security as well as vital infrastructure, and food security; and at sponsoring trade in the war-torn country. In Central Asia, the bank deployed more than $2.5 billion in 121 projects across six countries, nearly double the amount it invested in 2023. A whopping 61% of these projects aimed to boost sustainable infrastructure projects in the region.  —TM

With metals prices on the rise, miners worldwide defied the persistently high interest rate environment to post a 4% year-over-year rise in dealmaking volumes. BMO, the global leader in metals and mining advisory and this year’s award winner, played a key role in securing the sector’s largest deals of 2024.

The Canadian giant advised on 12 key transactions, valued at over $18 billion. Among them, it acted as joint bookrunner on Cleveland-Cliffs’ offerings to fund its $2.8 billion acquisition of Canadian steel maker Stelco. It also advised Stelco from the sell side on the M&A transaction. BMO advised gold mining and exploration company Centamin on its sale to AngloGold Ashanti for $2.5 billion, one on the largest gold deals of 2024. On the IPO side, BMO acted as the bookrunner of Sprott Physical Copper Trust’s $110 million sale.         —TM

For the first time since the 2021 M&A bonanza, the energy sector saw more than $400 billion in acquisitions last year, according to Bain & Co. research. The numbers were mainly pulled by 10 megadeals, with many midsize deals helping sustain the uptick.

Citibank leveraged its historical sector leadership position to help secure some of 2024’s most important deals. In the blockbuster, $26 billion Diamondback Energy and Endeavor Energy Resources megamerger, it acted as the sole provider of committed bridge financing and led the term loan issuances and senior notes offerings for the buy side. It then served as the M&A and capital markets adviser to Diamondback. Citi also played a leading role in natural gas producer EQT’s purchase of Equitrans Midstream, which helped create the only large-scale, vertically integrated US natural gas business.    —TM

Boutique M&A advisory Rothschild & Co outperformed in the booming sports-betting industry and in direct advisory services for sports clubs. In the latter category, the bank played a key role in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s equity injection during a year of significant losses for the Premier League club. Rothschild is now reportedly in talks with investors for a mega sell of the club’s assets at a nearly $4.5 billion valuation. The bank is also working with West Ham United FC to bring in new investments that could increase the club’s competitiveness. Also in the UK, Rothschild has engaged with West London’s Brentford FC to raise investment offers that could potentially value the club at over $500 million. On the other side of the Atlantic, Rothschild played a key role in sports-betting company DraftKings’ acquisition for $195 million of Simplebet, serving as the exclusive adviser to the sell side.  —TM

It was a banner year for Centerview Partners. The still-private boutique advisory firm—one of the few left in the business—amassed a record-breaking 5.35% share of US M&A advisory fees in 2024, primarily focused on communications and tech M&A. In the New York-based firm’s most notable transaction of the year, it scored big by advising Paramount’s special committee in the $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. With significant backlash from Paramount Group’s shareholders, the complex deal required top-level advisory. The bank also served as an exclusive financial adviser on the sell side for global investment firm Permira’s acquisition of all-in-one content management system company Squarespace for $7.2 billion. Further showcasing its ability to work in complex situations, the firm served as an adviser to media behemoth Disney in its proxy dispute against activist investors Trian Partners and Blackwells Capital, as well as in Disney’s settlement with ValueAct Capital.   —TM