Goldman widens gap in deal rankings, notching up US$119 bln in one week

[LONDON] US investment bank Goldman Sachs has opened up a US$100 billion lead in this year's worldwide mergers and acquisitions (M&A) league table after grabbing advisory roles on the top four deals in this week's bumper week for takeovers.

Deals this week, the busiest so far this year, were worth US$140 billion, lifting year-to-date M&A activity to almost US$1 trillion, according to Thomson Reuters data. That is up 25 per cent from a year ago and the strongest start to a year since 2007.

Goldman advised on deals worth US$119 billion that were announced this week. It worked for Mylan on its offer for Perrigo, BG Group in its takeover by Shell , TNT Express in its US$4.3 billion bid from Fedex and Permira Advisers and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in its proposed US$4.5 billion buyout of Informatica Corp.

Goldman has advised on 99 deals worth US$305.8 billion so far this year. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has moved up into second spot with deals worth US$207.2 billion and JPMorgan slipped to third with US$188.8 billion of deals, Thomson Reuters data show.

Advisory boutique firm Robey Warshaw has jumped to eighth spot in the M&A league tables after also working with BG Group.

REUTERS