According to statistics from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), in the first half of 2026, Wall Street financial giant Goldman Sachs (GS) significantly expanded its market share in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), reaching its largest scale for the same period in nearly a decade. Driven by an unprecedented artificial intelligence boom fueling a wave of tech-sector M&A, alongside a more lenient regulatory environment, the total transaction value in the EMEA region surged to USD 676 billion during this period, more than double that of the same period in 2025 and marking a new high for 19 years.
Goldman Sachs has long maintained a leading position in EMEA advisory, but according to LSEG data analysis, its rival JPMorgan Chase has successfully narrowed the gap. Data shows that in the first six months of 2026, Goldman Sachs advised on 111 M&A transactions, accounting for 44% of the total EMEA M&A value by actual value, up from 42% in the same period of 2025. This latest share is the highest for the January-to-June period since 2018, when its share stood at 46%. In comparison, JPMorgan Chase advised on 99 transactions, holding a 35% market share, giving Goldman Sachs a 9-percentage-point lead over its competitor, slightly narrower than the 11-percentage-point gap in the first half of 2025. Globally, Goldman Sachs holds a 38% market share and ranks first among all financial advisors in terms of transaction volume.
Goldman Sachs’ market-leading position is primarily built on its dominance in ultra-large-scale transactions. By transaction count, independent boutique investment bank Rothschild surpassed Goldman Sachs with 163 deals, but Goldman Sachs advised on 15 of the 20 largest M&A transactions in the EMEA region during the period. These included advising consumer giant Unilever on the sale of its food business to McCormick for approximately USD 45 billion (with Morgan Stanley also participating), which was the largest M&A deal in the region during the period. In addition, Goldman Sachs was involved in the USD 34 billion merger between TK Elevators and Kone. Its main rival, JPMorgan Chase, participated in 13 of the largest transactions but did not join the Unilever-related deal.
Last year, uncertainty brought by U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House stalled global M&A activity. Although current markets remain highly volatile, bankers point out that if deals fail to close, annual rankings could see significant changes—for example, Commerzbank, which Goldman Sachs advised, is trying to fend off a USD 28 billion takeover bid from UniCredit. Nevertheless, the corporate sector has shown a determination to adopt long-term strategies. Carsten Woehrn, co-head of EMEA M&A at Goldman Sachs, stated that companies are taking a long-term strategic perspective, investing for development over the coming decades. Valeria Vitkova, Associate Professor of Finance at Bayes Business School, commented that Goldman Sachs’ dominance highlights notable changes in the competitive landscape following the financial crisis, and its sustained lead reflects enduring competitiveness built in an increasingly complex transaction environment, particularly in the AI era.
The EMEA region’s M&A scale hit a 19-year high, benefiting not only from regulatory easing and improved financing conditions but also from the AI wave driving companies to reallocate assets and compete for technological capabilities. LSEG data shows that the global M&A market reached approximately USD 2.8 trillion in the first half of 2026, up 48% year-on-year, with tech transactions contributing significantly. Research from PwC also forecasts that global deal value could reach USD 4 trillion in 2026. Analysts believe that positive factors such as “AI reshaping the industrial landscape, a looser regulatory environment, the return of mega-deals, and long-term corporate strategic restructuring” have jointly driven this M&A recovery, and this trend may be unfolding globally. Morgan Stanley further predicts that by 2028, nearly USD 3 trillion in AI-related infrastructure investment will flow through the global economy, with the vast majority of spending still to come.
