Goldman takes M&A lead

Morgan Stanley took the most M&A advisory mandates worldwide in the first half of the year, but Goldman Sachs had edged ahead again by November.

Separately, Standard & Poor's predicts 2006 will bring even more deal volume, as the flood of private equity money into many different industrial sectors increases.

the Trans Alaska Pipeline and a refinery from Williams Companies, fibre and polymers assets from DuPont, and chemicals assets from BP. It now has a broad portfolio of assets in oil and natural gas, chemicals and fertilizers, engineering and ranching, as well as pulp, paper and lumber.

Koch was advised by Citigroup on the transaction, and Georgia-Pacific was advised by Goldman Sachs.