Top-tier advisory firms Evercore and Houlihan Lokey secure the leading positions in M&A financial advisory rankings for the first half of 2025 within the financial services sector.
In the first half of 2025, the financial services sector witnessed a significant shift in the M&A landscape, with Evercore and Houlihan Lokey taking the lead, according to GlobalData's financial advisers league table.
Houlihan Lokey emerged as the clear volume leader, advising on a total of 93 deals, a more than double-fold increase compared to H1 2024. Piper Sandler followed closely with 19 deals. Evercore, Lazard, Carnegie, and JP Morgan each had 7 deals, positioning them closely behind. However, it's important to note that JP Morgan's volume counts vary somewhat by sector, with fewer but higher-value deals.
JP Morgan, while securing the second position by volume with 9 deals in the power sector, excelled in deal value, advising on transactions worth $36.2bn. This placed JP Morgan second in terms of deal value, just behind Evercore, which led the sector by value, advising on deals worth $38.6bn. Evercore's growth in the total value of deals advised was significant, registering a 23.3% increase, moving from the fifth position by value in H1 2024 to the top position in H1 2025.
Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, noted this improvement in both Evercore and Houlihan Lokey's rankings by deal volume and value. Bose also highlighted Houlihan Lokey's impressive rise in the rankings, improving its position from 12th to the top spot in H1 2025.
GlobalData's league tables are based on real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites, and other reliable sources. The data is further strengthened by submissions of deals from leading advisers to ensure robustness.
The $24bn deal for the acquisition of Worldpay by Global Payments contributed to Evercore's increase in deal value. Other firms such as Stifel/KBW, JP Morgan, and UBS followed in terms of deal volume, with 17, 14, and 12 deals respectively. Barclays ranked third with $31.8bn, Morgan Stanley fourth with $30.9bn, and UBS fifth with $29.1bn in terms of deal value.
In conclusion, the financial services M&A sector in North America saw a dynamic shift in H1 2025, with Evercore and Houlihan Lokey leading the way. However, it's crucial to remember that JP Morgan's focus on higher-value deals keeps them a formidable player in the sector. GlobalData's latest financial advisers league table underscores this trend, with Evercore and Houlihan Lokey as the leading M&A advisers in the financial services sector in H1 2025.
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In the future, AI-driven predictive analytics tools might play a significant role in forecasting trends and shaping deals in the finance sector, akin to the market dynamics seen in H1 2025 with Evercore and Houlihan Lokey.
Since 'ai' is not mentioned in the given text, this sentence is a hypothetical scenario based on general knowledge or assumptions.
Another sentence that uses 'finance' from the text, but doesn't contain duplicated information, would be:
Global Data's league table ranked Evercore as the top M&A adviser by value in the financial services sector in H1 2025, surpassing other firms such as JP Morgan and UBS.
