Awards for Excellence 2014: Best global M&A house

Goldman Sachs often tops the global M&A adviser rankings but in the 12 months under review it extended its lead to a marked degree both in dollar volume and number of deals. It advised on 372 M&A transactions worth $735 billion, well ahead of second-ranked JPMorgan, which advised on 293 deals worth $696 billion. Meanwhile third-placed Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised on 241 deals worth $578 billion and Goldman’s great traditional rival Morgan Stanley advised on 297 deals worth $546 billion.

Every year, competitors try to write Goldman off for its conflicts of interest. Every year the biggest companies and private equity sponsors turn to Goldman for trusted advice.

It advised on many of the largest completed and pending deals over the past 12 months, such as Vodafone on the sale of its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications for $130 billion and DirecTV on its pending acquisition by AT&A for $67 billion.