Barclays and Rothschild & Co have emerged as the leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the retail sector by value and volume respectively in the fiscal year 2023, according to GlobalData’s latest league table. 

GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company that is the parent of Retail Insight Network, ranked advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised. 

According to its financial deals database, Barclays advised on deals worth $14.6bn, securing the top spot by value during the period.  

Rothschild & Co's advisory work on 19 deals placed it at the top in terms of volume. 

Goldman Sachs followed Barclays with $9.5bn in advised deal value, with Morgan Stanley and Jefferies close behind at $8.7bn and $6.9bn respectively. 

In terms of deal volume, Lazard came second, followed by Houlihan Lokey, with each advising on ten deals. Goldman Sachs and Jefferies advised on nine deals each.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose stated: “Barclays saw a massive jump in the total value of deals advised by it in 2023 compared to the previous year. It was the only financial adviser to surpass $10 billion in total deal value during 2023. Apart from leading by value, Barclays also occupied the 10th position by volume during the year. 

“Meanwhile, the number of deals advised by Rothschild & Co mostly remained at the same level and it fell short [by] just one deal to touch 20 deals volume mark in 2023. Apart from leading by volume, Rothschild & Co also occupied the fourth position by value.” 

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. 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 leading advisers.