Goldman Sachs is Latin America’s best investment bank for M&A 2025, due to its strong year in advising the region’s most important strategic and financial transactions.
The accolade caps a period in which the firm combined deep local knowledge with its global sector reach to deliver clear, measurable results for clients across industries and borders.
The firm’s performance over the review period is compelling. Goldman Sachs captured 39.6 % of regional M&A value – more than double its nearest rival and a remarkable four-fold increase from 2022. Total announced deal value it advised on in the period reached roughly $33 billion across 12 transactions larger than $300 million. The jump underscores the firm’s ability to win mandates on the largest, often contested, processes as market confidence rebounded.
Part of that outperformance is due to the bank being genuinely pan-regional. Over the award window, the bank closed or announced transactions in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Chile.
Highlights include Rio Tinto’s $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium – a cross-border mining deal central to the global energy-transition supply chain; FIBRA Prologis’ $2.8 billion takeover of Terrafina, the largest real-estate transaction in Mexican history; and the $1.7 billion purchase of Despegar by Prosus, reinforcing Goldman’s long-standing strength in technology and consumer-internet.
Goldman has demonstrated its ability to advise on transformative transactions while maintaining [its] disciplined approach
Alongside headline M&A, the firm advised on complex restructurings, minority stake sales and public-company merger‐of‐equals structures.
Many of the year’s transactions paired Latin American assets with global strategic or private equity buyers, requiring sensitivity to local regulations and the ability to mobilise sector specialists in New York, London and Hong Kong. The bank guided Vale on carving out its base-metals business to international investors and helped Atlas Lithium secure a strategic investment and offtake with Japan’s Mitsui.
Crucially, clients highlight tangible benefits: valuation uplifts achieved through competitive tension; creative consideration structures mixing cash, stock and contingent value; and speed to signing in jurisdictions where approvals can be protracted. The firm’s repeat mandates – from global multinationals like HSBC to family-controlled champions – suggest these outcomes are more than one-offs.
Latin America is poised for another wave of strategic realignment as near-shoring, energy transition and digitisation reshape corporate priorities. Goldman Sachs has demonstrated its ability to advise on transformative transactions while maintaining the disciplined approach that has underpinned its franchise for years, thus its recognition of Latin America’s best investment bank for M&A.
