Goldman Tops $1 Trillion of M&A, Fastest Ever to Reach the Mark

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(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s investment bankers have just set a speed record. 

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The Wall Street bank has advised on more than $1 trillion of mergers and acquisitions so far this year, the fastest any bank has ever reached the milestone, according to Dealogic data. 

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There’ve been about $1.7 trillion of deals announced so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg which excludes SpaceX’s combination with xAI. That’s about the same as had been announced by this point during the high-water mark year of 2021. 

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But during the record M&A run of 2021 it took the bank until mid-July to hit the $1 trillion threshold. This year, Goldman’s closest competitor is still about $300 billion shy of $1 trillion, according to the Dealogic data. 

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A slew of megadeals helped propel the bank to $1 trillion so quickly. The biggest of the roughly 200 advisory roles includes advising Dominion Energy Inc. on its $118 billion sale to NextEra Energy Inc., Unilever Plc on the $44.8 billion sale of its food business to McCormick & Co. Inc. and the buyout of AES Corp. by BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT AB at an enterprise value of $33.4 billion. 

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“It’s been the year of the big deal,” Stephan Feldgoise, Goldman’s head of global mergers and acquisitions, said in an interview. “We’ve had very active years in the past — 2021 was obviously very active — and we were all wondering if we’d see volumes that would match those levels in our careers. The momentum has continued. Dialogue continues on both the small and the very large size across industries and geographies. It’s pretty much across the board.”

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The record burst adds fuel to predictions that 2026 will be an exceptional year for M&A, despite uncertainties about geopolitics, the economy and the ripple effects of artificial intelligence. Dealmakers have been encouraging companies to take advantage of what they say is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strike their dream deals. 

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Companies have been emboldened to act by factors including a favorable regulatory environment, ample financing and shareholders who are receptive to M&A, Feldgoise said. 

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“They’re taking very long term strategic views, which is why you’re able to see this level of activity when there’s certainly risk around the world,” Feldgoise said. 

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In some cases, the uncertainty has made scale, and thus M&A, more appealing.

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“There is no question that AI is driving many companies to think about scale being even more important than it was previously,” he said. “There’s a belief that scale is going to be a steady ship in uncertain seas, so that’s also really pushing people to act.”

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