Goldman set for record advisory year after US$110 million fee on EA’s take-private deal

[NEW YORK] Goldman Sachs Group’s biggest-ever M&A payday may be the precursor to the bank’s best year for advisory work.

The US bank will earn US$110 million steering video game maker Electronic Arts through its US$55 billion take-private by a group of investors including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, according to a filing. Goldman picked up US$10 million of this when the deal – the largest leveraged buyout on record – was announced, the filing shows.

Electronic Arts is Goldman’s leading mandate in a year in which it has worked on about US$1.2 trillion of transactions globally, data compiled by Bloomberg show. With seven weeks of 2025 still to run, that is just behind the record US$1.3 trillion it managed in 2021, giving it plenty of time to set an all-time high.

Goldman has this year also landed roles on Kimberly-Clark’s proposed US$40 billion purchase of Tylenol maker Kenvue; the massive mining tie-up of Anglo American and Teck Resources; and the take private of drugstore operator Walgreens Boots Alliance.

While the resurgence in mergers and acquisitions in 2025 has lifted dealmaking revenue across the major US banks, Goldman has been outpacing its rivals.

It is predicted to post a US$4.72 billion haul from its advisory unit in 2025, a 34 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Its next closest competitors in the business – JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley – are only expected to achieve a 5 per cent increase in M&A fees for the year.

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Analysts also anticipate that Goldman will be able to hang onto its lead next year, when it is expected to reap US$5.12 billion of revenue from the division.

The bank’s chief executive officer David Solomon told Bloomberg Television this month that there was a tremendous backlog of large M&A deals that boded well for activity in the years ahead.

After a rocky start, dealmakers are on course for their best year since the record-breaking 2021, with announced transaction values standing at US$3.9 trillion globally, the Bloomberg-compiled data show. This is pointing to a blowout bonus season on Wall Street. BLOOMBERG