Goldman Sachs and Houlihan Lokey were the leading financial advisers for consumer-sector mergers and acquisitions during the first nine months of 2026.
According to figures from GlobalData, Just Food’s parent company, Goldman Sachs advised on ten transactions worth $57.14bn, placing it first by value.
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Houlihan Lokey led the volume rankings with 19 deals.
Goldman Sachs’ deal value increased 428.2% year on year (YoY), lifting the bank from fourth position in the Q1–Q3 2025 rankings.
Its total value was boosted by the Unilever’s multi-billion dollar foods business deal with McCormick & Co.
Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, said: “Houlihan Lokey was the top adviser by volume during Q1–Q3 2025 and managed to lead the table by this metric during Q1–Q3 2026, despite a year-on-year drop in the total number of deals it advised on.
“Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs saw more than a five-fold YoY jump in the total value of deals it advised on during Q1–Q3 2026. Resultantly, its ranking by value improved from fourth to the top position. The involvement in the $44.8bn merger of Unilever’s foods business with McCormick played a pivotal role in Goldman Sachs securing the top spot by value.”
Citi ranked second by value, advising on five deals worth $56.50bn.
Morgan Stanley placed third with 14 deals worth $54.11bn, followed by Rothschild & Co. with 13 deals worth $46.84bn and Bank of America with six deals worth $12.98bn.
Morgan Stanley’s deal value increased 81.6% YoY, while Rothschild & Co. recorded a 720.7% rise. Bank of America’s value fell 52.5% compared to the same period in 2025.
In the volume rankings, PwC placed second with 15 deals, up 50% YoY.
Morgan Stanley ranked third with 14 deals, an increase of 133.3%, followed by Rothschild & Co. with 13 deals and Goldman Sachs with ten.
Houlihan Lokey’s volume fell from 22 deals in Q1–Q3 2025 to 19 in the latest period, a decline of 13.6%. Despite the drop, it retained the top position by volume.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of sources including company websites and advisory firm websites. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from advisers.
