Investment banking revenues from private equity firms hit $10bn (7.3bn) so far this year with JPMorgan leading the beneficiaries, The Financial News Reports.
The fees are a third higher than at this time last year and represent a fifth of all investment banking revenue in the year-to-date, according to Dealogic, the investment banking research provider.
Private equity activity has continued despite warnings of a slowdown in the credit markets making leveraged buyouts more difficult.
At the end of last month Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Teachers Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario teachers pension fund, agreed to acquire BCE, the Canadian telecom firm, for $48.5bn in the largest leveraged buyout.
This month The Blackstone Group acquired Hilton Hotels for $27.2bn. Blackstone has paid the highest fees of $462m to investment banks so far this year, nearly a fifth more than second ranked Apollo Advisors with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in third place.