JP Morgan rose to the top of the global merger and acquisition league table for the year to date for the first time in 12 years.
The bank surpassed Goldman Sachs which has enjoyed a top spot on the global M&A advisory league table since 2001, according to data from investment banking research provider Dealogic. It has received 116 mandates valued at $295.2 billion (€191 billion) so far this year.
JP Morgan’s participation in two deals boosted its standing. It was the sole advisor to candy business Mars on its $22.6 billion acquisition of chewing gum producer Wrigleys. The deal will make Wrigley a standalone subsidiary of Mars and keep its headquarters in Chicago. It became the largest global M&A deal to date since Microsoft withdrew from its bid to take over Yahoo!.
Altria Group’s spin-off of its cigarette arm Phillip Morris International in a $111 billion deal gave JP Morgan its largest deal mandate for the year to date.
The deal exchanged a Phillip Morris share for a Altria share on a one-to-one basis. Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse also advised the tobacco company.
Most recently, JP Morgan advised computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard on its $13.3 billion acquisition of IT outsourcer and services provider Electronic Data Systems in the largest technology deal of the year.
A combination of a slow down in the capital markets coupled with withdrawn deals has helped shake up league table standings. Banks have scrambled to get large mandates that have been few and far between. Microsoft’s withdrawal of its $44.6 billion offer for Web portal Yahoo! lowered Morgan Stanley and Blackstone Group’s league table standing.
There have been 13,975 M&A deals valued at $1.2 trillion for the year to March 14, a 34% decline over 12 months ago.