Goldman Sachs tops North America M&A advisory by deal value
Goldman Sachs booked $437.7 billion in North America M&A value in H1, but Houlihan Lokey led on deal count with 104, showing how concentrated the franchise became.
Goldman Sachs finished the first half of 2026 atop North America M&A advisers by transaction value, with about $437.7 billion of deals, even as Houlihan Lokey led the region on volume with 104 transactions. For bankers inside Goldman, that split matters because it points to a franchise built less on sheer breadth than on a smaller number of oversized mandates that carry the highest fees and the most visibility.
The ranking underscores a familiar tension in investment banking economics. Value leadership tends to come from the biggest strategic combinations, where Goldman’s coverage teams can lean on relationships, industry expertise and financing capabilities; volume leadership usually reflects a broader spread of smaller assignments, often handled by advisers that are more active in middle-market dealmaking. In practice, that means Goldman’s league-table strength is tied to the kind of work that can stretch analysts and associates the most, from models and diligence to process management and board materials.
Reuters reported June 16 that Goldman had already managed more than $1 trillion of announced M&A in 2026, calling it the fastest pace any investment bank had reached in a half-year. Reuters also said July 1 that global announced deal value reached $2.8 trillion in the first half, up 48% from a year earlier, with mega-deals doing most of the lifting. That backdrop helps explain how Goldman could dominate by value even while a specialist such as Houlihan Lokey stayed ahead on the number of transactions.
The concentration also points to how fragile, and how lucrative, the advisory business can be. A handful of large mandates can swing a bank’s standings, shape client perception and influence pitch flow for months. For Goldman’s managing directors, that is a reminder that reputation is still built on being in the room for the most strategic deals, but it also means performance can depend heavily on whether those mandates close, clear regulators and survive market volatility.
Goldman’s first-half showing was not an isolated snapback. Euromoney named it North America’s best investment bank for M&A in 2026, and GlobalData’s July 17 league tables also captured the same split between value and volume. Houlihan Lokey’s 2025 global M&A advisory rankings show the competitive contrast clearly: 458 deals for Houlihan Lokey versus 441 for Goldman Sachs. For Goldman employees, the message is blunt: the franchise is winning the deals that matter most to fee pools and prestige, but it is also increasingly dependent on a narrow set of large, complicated mandates that can intensify workload and make every win count.
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