World’s Best Investment Banks 2025: M&A

Persistent inflation and volatile interest rates defined much of the M&A landscape in 2024, dampening buy-side confidence even as activity gained momentum. By year’s end, global deal value had climbed 16% to surpass $3.4 trillion, according to Dealogic. But as macroeconomic pressures began to ease, fresh geopolitical tensions and a looming global trade war emerged, threatening hopes for a 2025 rebound. Early indicators suggest dealmakers face another turbulent year ahead.

Since the beginning of this year, global M&A activity has totaled $418.9 billion—a 17% drop compared to the same period in 2024, per data from the London Stock Exchange Group. February’s $199.1 billion in deals marked a 9% decline from January and a 30% year-over-year decrease. Mega deals also slowed; only four transactions over $5 billion were announced in February. That’s half the number from the previous year.

Despite these challenges, some regions and sectors showed resilience—such as European M&A, which has spiked 21% since January 2025. Until more information becomes available, let’s celebrate the investment banks that brightened up the M&A landscape in 2024.         —Anthony Noto

In 2024, Goldman Sachs showcased its M&A prowess by advising on several high-profile deals. The firm played a key role in Kellanova’s $35.9 billion sale to Mars, one of the largest US mergers of the year, earning $92 million in advisory fees. The transaction involved brands like Pringles and Pop-Tarts, and it highlighted Goldman’s dominance in consumer goods deals.

Goldman Sachs also advised a private equity consortium, including CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital, and Platinum Ivy, on the £5.4 billion (about $7 billion) acquisition of British financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown.

In the industrial sector, Goldman, alongside UBS, guided Amcor’s $8.4 billion purchase of Berry Global Group. This acquisition will make Amcor one of the world’s largest plastic packaging companies.

Additionally, Goldman was involved in asset manager Blackstone’s A$24 billion (about $16 billion) acquisition of data center specialist AirTrunk, a major deal that emphasized the investment bank’s expertise in technology infrastructure deals.

These significant transactions reinforce Goldman Sachs’ status as a leader in advisory services across diverse industries. As the firm passed the $1 trillion mark for global M&A mandates—about one-third of all global deal activity—it beat Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan by $225 billion and $280 million, respectively. —AN

Africa is becoming a high-value frontier market. This is evidenced by its resilience in M&A amid pockets of macroeconomic headwinds and region-specific challenges. According to KPMG, in 2023, sub-Saharan Africa recorded 304 deals, valued at a total of $18.9 billion. Last year, momentum was strong, with deals worth $11.8 billion announced in the second quarter alone. That was the highest quarterly total recorded in two and a half years.

Absa Bank, a major M&A house with a presence in 10 markets, continues to facilitate most of the deals—cutting across divestitures, cross-border transactions, take-privates, leveraged buyouts, and others. This it does thanks to its ability to navigate complicated financial and regulatory environments. Last year, significant deals in which the bank was involved included the sale of MTN Guinea Bissau to Telecel Group Mobile and telecom-network provider Emtel’s initial public offering (IPO) in Mauritius.             —John Njiraini

UBS is recognized as the leader in Asia-Pacific region M&A financial advisory services for 2024 in both value and volume. As a top Asian investment bank, UBS completed 30 transactions last year with a total deal value of $14.4 billion. The M&A column was dominated by technology-related transactions with strong, long-term trends that persist in spheres such as data consumption, digitalization, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and fintech.

Given the political changes in major economies around the globe, and the parallel inflation and interest rate decline, UBS foresees a strong stock market and enough boardroom confidence for companies to embark on strategic transactions using shares as currency. Investors will be empowered with monetary visibility and market stability. Thus, UBS Global Banking expects that dealmaking activity in 2025 will benefit from renewed macro clarity as corporates and sponsors seek to deploy more capital for M&A.      —Lyndsey Zhang

With low activity in the private equity spectrum and declining deal volumes in the key automotive and real estate sectors, overall deal value in Central and Eastern Europe was down roughly 30% for last year, according to Forvis Mazars Group.

Yet, despite the unfavorable backdrop, Poland’s Bank Pekao managed to leverage its best-in-class positioning in the still-resilient tech and industrial sectors to keep activity going. Pekao also acted as a key sell-side adviser in the €9.3 million (about $10 million) funding deal between Vinci Da Gama Fund and optics marketplace Kodano. In December, the bank also disclosed mulling an M&A deal of its own: the takeover of insurance group PZU’s 31.9% stake in Alior Bank, a move that would leverage Pekao’s position in the region even further.  —TM

A volatile risk landscape for Brazilian markets in 2024 was the perfect setup for Bradesco BBI to leapfrog long-standing leader BTG Pactual in domestic M&A volume for the year. With around $10 billion in transactions, Bradesco guaranteed its first position in the field in its home country. For the region, the bank jumped an impressive 20 positions in the list by total volume. The result was a solid $24 million in revenue from M&A proceeds on a total of 43 deals. Among Bradesco’s main deals last year, the bank facilitated Equatorial Energia’s purchase of a 15% stake in the government-owned water-and-sanitation company Sabesp for approximately $1.2 billion.     —TM

Rothschild & Co has advised on many of the Middle East’s most complex transactions. As an M&A advisor, the bank closed 25 deals throughout the region, including Africa, with a value of $24.2 billion, according to Dealogic. The bank recently established a geopolitical advisory and incorporated ESG considerations into several product offerings.

The bank advised Masdar on its €2.4 billion (about $2.6 billion) offer—which included a €750 million acquisition financing package—for Terna Energy, Greece’s largest independent power producer. Masdar is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) state-owned company that develops renewable energy projects, community grid projects, and energy services. The deal is the largest-ever energy transaction on the Athens Stock Exchange and one of the largest public-to-private transactions by a UAE entity.

Rothschild also coordinated the sell-side process for the direct investment by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and APG Asset Management in the Trans-Java Toll Road with the Indonesia Investment Authority. ADIA and APG acquired a 53.3% stake in Rafflesia, a toll road platform targeting investment opportunities in Indonesia’s toll road networks.    —Andrea Murad

It was a phenomenal year for the boutique M&A advisory giant Rothschild & Co. Amid the continued slow rebound in European M&A from a dismal 2023, the bank advised an impressive 296 of the continent’s reported 784 deals, making it the only European bank on the top-10 list of global dealmaking by revenue. This commanding presence translated into a remarkable $82.3 billion in deal volume, significantly outperforming other top-tier banks in the region in both volume and number of deals.

Among the bank’s most notable transactions, Rothschild advised Cinven on the $5.2 billion acquisition of Alter Domus, a significant deal in the fund administration sector. The bank also played a pivotal role in Neptune Energy’s sale to Eni and Var Energi for an aggregate enterprise value of $5 billion. In 2025, Rothschild has reportedly advising the John Wood Group, a UK oil services and engineering company, throughout its refinancing discussions amidst debt concerns and potential takeover talks with Dubai-based Sidara. —TM