Goldman May Feast on Biggest Piece of M&A Pie in Nearly a Quarter Century

When the stroke of midnight and the Times Square ball drop ushered in 2025, investment bankers clinking their glasses anticipated a fireworks display of dealmaking that would pay for their Dom Pérignon and then some.

You know what happened next. The hope that a business-friendly new administration would unlock the tepid M&A market ran into a wall of tariff-induced anxiety. But then things changed. More than six months into a market rally that kicked off in May, bankers at Goldman Sachs in particular can anticipate their next New Year’s celebration will be even more festive: They’re poised to nab their biggest share of the M&A market in nearly a quarter of a century. CEO David Solomon may have to start DJ-ing again.

The Goldman Ticket

Analysts at the Boston Consulting Group wrote last month that M&A activity proved resilient, if steady and slow, in its recovery from a post-2021 chill. BCG said the aggregate global deal value rose by 10% year-over-year in the first three quarters, from $1.7 trillion in 2024 to $1.9 trillion in 2025. The lion’s share of that activity, $1.2 trillion, involved targets based in North America, which accounted for 62% of global M&A.

Megadeals worth more than $10 billion are also on the rise, with the 27 through September 30 besting the 21 in the same period last year. The record $55 billion buyout of gaming company Electronic Arts by a consortium including Silver Lake and the Saudi Public Investment Fund is the flashiest example. It’s also especially notable because Goldman Sachs, which was EA’s only advisor on the deal, notched a $110 million fee from its involvement. That’s helping position Goldman particularly advantageously:

• Citing LSEG data, the Financial Times reported Monday that Goldman has advised on 34% of global mergers by deal value this year, up from 28% in 2024 and the highest share since 2015. Moreover, the newspaper noted that the fee Goldman is set to earn from Cidara Therapeutics’ $9.2 billion acquisition by Merck, which was only announced Friday and wasn’t included in LSEG’s data, means it could win its largest cut of the deals market since 2001.
• Goldman’s market share of fees from completed deals is not nearly as high, although the FT said Dealogic shows its 10.7% is the best since 2022.

Top of the Lot: Goldman shares, up 35% this year, set a record high closing price of $838.97 last week. Last month, the firm reported its investment banking fees surged 42% year-over-year to $2.6 billion in the third quarter, above and beyond analysts’ expectations of 14%. Executives said Goldman had advised on $1 trillion in announced M&A deals in 2025, which they added was $220 billion more than anyone else.