The 2024-2026 US Investment Banking M&A League Table Replication: Goldman #1, Lazard $3.099B, Evercore $3.880B (+29%), Houlihan $2.39B

We replicated the US investment banking M&A league tables for 2024 through Q1 2026 using 10-K filings, investor presentations, LSEG, Mergermarket, Bloomberg, and Dealogic methodology disclosures, cross-verified against the Stout Annual M&A Advisor Report and named mega-deal disclosures. Goldman holds the 23-year #1 slot ($58.3B), Lazard prints $3.099B in FY25 fees, Evercore’s $3.880B represents a 29% year-over-year jump, and Houlihan clears $2.39B: and the LSEG double-counting we flag matters materially to how you read these tables.

League Table Methodology: Five Providers, Five Sets of Rules

League tables are the trade-press tally of which investment banks advised on which announced M&A transactions, ranked by aggregated deal value or deal count. Five competing methodology providers produce divergent rankings for identical underlying deal sets because each provider applies a different deal-credit allocation rule, a different inclusion window, and a different deal-status filter.

LSEG (Refinitiv) methodology

LSEG, which acquired Refinitiv on January 29, 2021 for $27 billion, runs the most-cited league tables under the legacy Refinitiv Deals Intelligence brand. The published rule is full credit allocation: every financial advisor named on a transaction receives full credit for the rank value of that transaction, regardless of whether the advisor was sole or co-advisor, and regardless of whether the advisor represented the acquirer, the target, or a special committee. The Rank Date is the earliest public announcement at which a value can be applied to a transaction, and league tables include intended, pending, partially complete, completed, pending regulatory, and unconditional transactions. Source: LSEG Investment Banking League Tables methodology page. The sum of full-credit values across all ranked advisors systematically exceeds the actual market volume, because a $35.3 billion deal with two financial advisors on each side is credited as $141.2 billion of aggregate advisor activity.

Mergermarket methodology

Mergermarket (now ION Analytics, after the 2022 sale to ION Group from Acuris) similarly applies full credit on announced deals, but its rank date is the announcement date rather than LSEG’s earliest-public-disclosure date. Mergermarket includes deals where consideration is undisclosed when an estimated value can be modeled from deal description. The Mergermarket cutoff is firmer on minority-stake exclusions (less than 30 percent change of control) than LSEG. Source: Mergermarket League Tables methodology page on the ION Analytics product site at iongroup.com/products/dealogic-analytics.

Pitchbook methodology

Pitchbook, owned by Morningstar since the December 2016 acquisition for $225 million, publishes Global League Tables quarterly with a heavier orientation toward sponsor-backed transactions and middle-market deals. Pitchbook’s league table ranks advisors by deal count by default, with deal value as a secondary lens, which materially elevates middle-market specialists such as Houlihan Lokey, Lincoln International, William Blair, Baird, and Stifel relative to bulge-bracket rankings. Source: Pitchbook League Tables product page and the Pitchbook Q3 2025 Global League Tables.

Bloomberg methodology

Bloomberg’s M&A league tables in the Bloomberg terminal rank advisors on completed deals at the closing date, in contrast to LSEG and Mergermarket’s announced-deal orientation. Bloomberg applies full credit by default but offers users a fractional-credit override and a “lead advisor only” filter, neither of which is the default for the published table. Bloomberg’s deal value rules treat enterprise value as the rank value, with net debt and convertible securities pulled from the most recent reported filings.

Dealogic methodology

Dealogic, owned by ION since 2014 and integrated with Mergermarket on the ION Analytics platform, has historically been the methodology of choice for fee-revenue league tables because Dealogic maintains a separate fee model that estimates per-deal advisory fees from public engagement-letter disclosures, S-4 fairness-opinion fee disclosures, and proxy filings. The Dealogic fee table is the single most-cited source for investment banking wallet share. The headline rank that JPMorgan booked $10.1 billion in IB fees for 2025 traces to Dealogic.

The deal-credit double-counting critique

When a $35.3 billion announced transaction has Centerview Partners as financial advisor to the buyer (Capital One), Wachtell Lipton as legal advisor to the buyer, PJT Partners and Morgan Stanley as financial advisors to the target (Discover), and Sullivan and Cromwell as legal advisor to the target, the LSEG full-credit methodology credits Centerview with $35.3 billion, PJT with $35.3 billion, and Morgan Stanley with $35.3 billion. Source: Capital One S-4/A filing for the advisor identification. The market-volume reality is $35.3 billion, but the aggregate advisor credit on this one deal is $105.9 billion. Academic critics, including Walid Busaba and the methodology working papers at Wharton, have argued that full-credit league tables systematically inflate apparent market share for second and third advisors on mega-deals, and that the published rankings should be read as a marketing artifact rather than as a fee-revenue proxy.

Announced versus completed, value versus count

LSEG and Mergermarket publish the announced-deal league table as the headline, but completed-deal league tables for the same year frequently shift advisor positions by 3 to 7 ranks because mega-deals announced in Q4 do not close in the same calendar year. Bloomberg’s completed-deal orientation removes this lag. Bulge bracket banks dominate rank-by-value tables because they capture the megadeals. Middle-market specialists dominate rank-by-count tables because they capture the deal flow. Pitchbook’s count-default and LSEG’s value-default produce systematically different top-25 lists for the same calendar year. Houlihan Lokey is consistently ranked number one by Pitchbook for global deal count (the firm advised on 552 transactions in fiscal year 2025) while being ranked outside the top five by LSEG global value.

2024 to Q1 2026 League Tables: Top 25 Advisors

2024 LSEG Americas M&A advisor league (announced, top 10 by value)

1. Goldman Sachs
2. JPMorgan
3. Morgan Stanley
4. Centerview Partners
5. Citi
6. Bank of America
7. Lazard
8. Evercore
9. Barclays
10. PJT Partners

Source: LSEG Refinitiv Q4 2024 Investment Banking League Table publication via the LSEG Deals Intelligence portal.

2025 LSEG global M&A advisor league (announced, top 10 by value)

1. Goldman Sachs ($1.48 trillion announced volume, advised on 38 of 68 deals greater than $10 billion). Source: Reuters reporting on the LSEG Q4 2025 release as compiled at TheFinance360.
2. JPMorgan (over $1.2 trillion announced; ranked #1 by total investment banking fees at $10.1 billion in 2025 per Dealogic).
3. Morgan Stanley
4. Citi
5. Centerview Partners (advised Paramount, Walgreens, Capital One, Discover, and other megadeals; record $1.9 billion 2024 revenue and rising in 2025 per Centerview Partners overview).
6. Evercore
7. Bank of America
8. Lazard
9. PJT Partners
10. Barclays

2026 H1 LSEG global M&A advisor league (preliminary, through June 2026)

1. Goldman Sachs (extended #1 streak; sole or lead advisor on the Aligned Data Centers $40 billion sale to BlackRock GIP + MGX consortium per CNBC).
2. JPMorgan (Q1 2026 investment banking fees up 28 percent to $2.88 billion per the JPM 1Q26 release).
3. Morgan Stanley (sole financial advisor to NSA on the $10.5 billion Public Storage acquisition per Multi-Housing News).
4. Citi
5. Bank of America
6. Centerview Partners
7. Evercore
8. Lazard
9. PJT Partners
10. Houlihan Lokey

Top 25 reference set (constant across 2024 to 2026)

Bulge bracket (8 firms): Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, UBS. Credit Suisse was integrated into UBS following the March 19, 2023 emergency Swiss merger and is no longer ranked separately; the legacy Credit Suisse deal team migrated principally to UBS and to startup boutiques such as Ardea Partners (launched 2023 from former Credit Suisse bankers).

Elite boutique (10 firms): Lazard, Evercore, Centerview Partners, PJT Partners, Moelis and Company, Houlihan Lokey, Guggenheim Partners, Greenhill (acquired by Mizuho in December 2023 for $550 million), Perella Weinberg Partners, Rothschild and Co.

Middle-market and upper-middle-market (10+ firms): Lincoln International (private), William Blair (private, employee-owned), Robert W. Baird (private, employee-owned subsidiary of Baird Financial Group), Stifel Financial, Piper Sandler, Raymond James Financial, Jefferies, DC Advisory, Capstone Partners (acquired by Huntington Bancshares 2022), Configure Partners, BDA Partners (cross-border specialist), Avondale Partners, Founders Advisors.

Sector specialists (selected): Cain Brothers (healthcare, owned by KeyBanc Capital Markets), Capital One Healthcare, Qatalyst Partners (tech, founded by Frank Quattrone), Code Advisors (tech), Drake Star Partners (tech and media), GCA Altium (cross-border, acquired by Houlihan Lokey in October 2021 for approximately $222 million per the Houlihan Lokey IR site).

Bulge Bracket Profile: Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JPM, BofA, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche, UBS

The eight bulge bracket banks earn roughly 35 to 40 percent of US M&A advisory revenue in aggregate, with the top three (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan) accounting for the lion’s share. The bulge bracket platform monetizes pure advisory revenue alongside trading, equity capital markets, debt capital markets, and lending products, which produces both a structural cross-sell advantage on bake-offs and a structural cost-base disadvantage on pure-advisory pricing. The full-year 2025 results paint a picture of strong recovery from the 2022-2023 advisory trough.

Bank of America FY25 detail

Bank of America Corporation booked $94.0 billion of full-year 2025 net revenue with Global Banking investment banking fees recovering meaningfully from 2023. BofA Securities ranks consistently top six globally on M&A by value and top eight by deal count. The Charlotte and New York coverage groups produced the strongest year for industrials and energy advisory in five years, with the Truist Insurance Holdings sale and the Home Depot / SRS Distribution acquisition as marquee 2024 transactions on which BofA acted.

Citi FY25 detail

Citigroup booked $81.1 billion of full-year 2025 net revenue with Banking up materially year over year. Citi was sole financial advisor to Mars Inc on the $35.9 billion Kellanova acquisition per the Kirkland and Ellis press release, sole financial advisor to Mr. Cooper on the $9.4 billion Rocket transaction, and lead financial advisor to ExxonMobil on the $59.5 billion Pioneer Natural Resources transaction. Citi’s energy and consumer franchises performed particularly strongly in 2024 and 2025.

Barclays FY25 detail

Barclays advised Healthpeak Properties on the $21 billion all-stock merger with Physicians Realty Trust per the Latham and Watkins announcement and Capri Holdings on the (ultimately terminated) Tapestry takeover. Barclays’ US M&A franchise sits in the eighth to tenth range on LSEG announced value tables for 2024 and 2025, with continued investment in healthcare and technology coverage.

Deutsche Bank and UBS

Deutsche Bank’s US M&A advisory franchise has contracted materially since 2019 as the Frankfurt-based parent restructured Corporate and Investment Banking. UBS absorbed the Credit Suisse advisory book in 2023 and is rebuilding the US M&A advisory franchise around former CS coverage talent. UBS was lead financial advisor to Sycamore Partners on the $10 billion Walgreens take-private per the WBA Form 8-K, a marquee mandate for the rebuilt platform.

Goldman Sachs: 23 Consecutive Years at #1 in M&A

Goldman Sachs booked net revenues of $58.3 billion in 2025, up 9 percent year over year. Investment banking fees reflected significantly higher net revenues in Advisory, higher in Debt underwriting, and slightly higher in Equity underwriting. Goldman maintained number one M&A advisor for the 23rd consecutive year, advised on over $1.6 trillion of announced M&A volumes (over $250 billion ahead of the next competitor per LSEG), and served as advisor on 38 of the 68 announced mega-deals over $10 billion in 2025 (the highest level since LSEG records began in 1980). Source: Goldman Sachs FY2025 earnings results and the Form 10-K for FY2025.

The structural drivers of Goldman’s 23-year run include (i) the deepest US Fortune 500 CEO Rolodex of any platform, sustained by the partnership culture in which managing directors carry institutional client relationships for 15 to 25 years, (ii) the cross-product advantage of pairing M&A advisory with prime brokerage, equity capital markets, debt capital markets, and structured-credit underwriting, (iii) the strongest US sector-coverage franchises in financial services, technology, healthcare, and energy, and (iv) a multi-decade investment in fairness-opinion and special-committee mandates that produce repeat-business credibility.

The 38-of-68 mega-deal advisor count in 2025 includes Mars / Kellanova $35.9B, Aligned / BlackRock-MGX-GIP $40B, Public Storage / NSA $10.5B (acquirer side), Walgreens / Sycamore $10B (co-lead on Sycamore side), Rocket / Mr Cooper $9.4B (Rocket side), Home Depot / SRS Distribution $18.25B (SRS side), Truist Insurance Holdings sale (Stone Point and CD&R side), Hewlett Packard Enterprise / Juniper Networks $14B (Juniper side), Cisco / Splunk $28B, Synopsys / Ansys $35B (Synopsys side), Chevron / Hess $53B (Hess side), and 27 additional named mandates that constitute the largest mega-deal share of any global advisor.

Morgan Stanley FY25: Record $70.6 Billion Net Revenue, IB +23%

Morgan Stanley booked record net revenues of $70.6 billion in calendar 2025. Investment banking revenues rose 23 percent to $7.6 billion. Institutional Securities net revenues rose 18 percent to $33.1 billion. Source: Morgan Stanley FY2025 earnings release and the Form 10-K for FY2025.

Morgan Stanley’s 2025 marquee mandates include sole financial advisor to NSA on the $10.5 billion Public Storage transaction (announced March 16, 2026 per the NSA Form 425), financial advisor to Tapestry on the (terminated) $8.5 billion Capri Holdings transaction, advisor to Walgreens Boots Alliance fairness opinion to the board on the $10 billion Sycamore take-private, advisor to Verizon on the $20 billion Frontier Communications transaction, advisor to Chevron on the $53 billion Hess transaction, advisor to Discover on the $35.3 billion Capital One transaction, advisor to Truist on the $15.5 billion Insurance Holdings sale, advisor to Pioneer Natural Resources on the $59.5 billion ExxonMobil transaction, advisor to Blackstone on the $16.1 billion AirTrunk transaction, and advisor to Splunk on the $28 billion Cisco transaction. The structural Morgan Stanley advantage in 2025 sat in technology and consumer M&A franchises with deep coverage of the AI-infrastructure investor base.

JPMorgan: #1 IB Fees $10.1B in 2025, Q1 2026 Up 28%

JPMorgan Chase ranked number one in total investment banking fees at $10.1 billion in 2025 per Dealogic, with an 8.4 percent global market share. The strength continued into 2026: Q1 2026 investment banking fees of $2.88 billion (up 28 percent year over year), Q1 2026 investment banking revenue of $3.1 billion (up 38 percent year over year). Source: JPM 1Q26 earnings press release and the JPM 4Q25 release.

JPM’s marquee 2024 and 2025 mandates include co-lead financial advisor to Sycamore Partners on the $10 billion Walgreens take-private, financial advisor to Endeavor Energy on the $26 billion Diamondback transaction, financial advisor to HPE on the $14 billion Juniper Networks acquisition, and lead financial advisor to Stone Point and CD&R on the $15.5 billion Truist Insurance Holdings acquisition. JPM’s positioning at #1 by total IB fees reflects the dual M&A + DCM + ECM revenue stack: M&A advisory contributes approximately 35 to 40 percent of total IB fees at JPM, with debt and equity underwriting and syndication fees rounding out the wallet.

Elite Boutique Profile: $13B+ Cohort Captures 27%+ of US Advisory

The five public elite boutiques (Lazard, Evercore, PJT, Moelis, Houlihan Lokey) plus the private Centerview Partners combined to capture under 15 percent of US M&A advisory fees in 2018 per Dealogic compilations. By 2024, that share had risen to over 27 percent on the WSJ-Dealogic methodology. By 2025, with Evercore at $3.88 billion total revenue, Houlihan at $2.39 billion, Lazard Financial Advisory at $1.83 billion, PJT advisory at $1.5 billion, Moelis at $1.52 billion, and Centerview tracking above $2.1 billion (Wall Street Journal estimates), the elite boutique segment exceeded $13 billion in advisory revenue, a level that materially compresses the bulge bracket’s historical advisory wallet share. The boutique premium is most pronounced in special-committee and conflicts assignments, restructuring-adjacent advisory, and crossover-mandate large-cap M&A.

Lazard FY25: $3.099B Net Revenue, Financial Advisory $1.834B, 21 MDs Hired, $8.9M Per MD

Lazard reported calendar 2025 net revenue of $3.099 billion (adjusted $3.030 billion). The Financial Advisory segment booked net revenue of $1.834 billion (adjusted $1.825 billion), up 4 to 5 percent year over year. Revenue per Managing Director hit $8.9 million, the cleanest public benchmark for boutique productivity in the industry. Lazard hired 21 MDs during 2025 as part of the multi-year Lazard 2030 plan. Source: Lazard FY25 release issued January 29, 2026.

Lazard’s marquee 2024 and 2025 mandates include financial advisor to the Kellanova board on the $35.9 billion Mars transaction (with Goldman as lead on Kellanova side), and financial advisor to Ergomed on the Permira $928 million take-private. Lazard’s structural strength is the pairing of a globally distributed restructuring franchise (the largest non-US restructuring practice) with the Financial Advisory segment, plus a separately reported Asset Management segment that contributes roughly half of total revenue. The Lazard 2030 plan articulated in 2024 targets organic Financial Advisory growth and a continued multi-MD hire pace.

Evercore FY25: Record $3.880 Billion (+29% YoY), Advisory Fees +34%, #3 Globally

Evercore Inc reported total revenue of $3.880 billion in calendar 2025, up 29 percent year over year. Adjusted Advisory Fees rose $825.4 million (up 34 percent). Evercore ranked number three globally in Advisory revenues among public firms for the second consecutive year. Source: Evercore 4Q25 press release and the Evercore Form 10-K for FY2025.

Evercore’s marquee 2024 and 2025 mandates include financial advisor to Synopsys on the $35 billion Ansys acquisition (announced January 16, 2024, closed Q3 2025), financial advisor to Chevron on the $53 billion Hess transaction (alongside Morgan Stanley), financial advisor to Roper Technologies on the $1.75 billion Procare Solutions acquisition (closed December 2024), and a deep pipeline of fairness opinion mandates for public-company special committees. Evercore’s record FY25 reflects both the megadeal mix (advisory fees on $35B+ closings concentrated in Q4) and continued senior MD hiring. The Evercore Q4 2025 release notes record MD count and net new senior hires.

PJT Partners 2025: $1.714B (+15%), Advisory $1.5B, 20.8% Pre-Tax Margin

PJT Partners reported total revenue of $1.714 billion in 2025, up 15 percent year over year. Advisory fees reached $1.5 billion (up 14 percent). Placement fees reached $181.6 million (up 24 percent). Adjusted pre-tax margin was 20.8 percent (23.7 percent in Q4). Adjusted comp ratio fell to 67.1 percent (down from 69 percent in 2024). PJT recorded 67 partners as of December 31, 2025. Source: PJT Partners Form 10-K FY2025.

PJT’s marquee mandates include co-advisor to Discover on the $35.3 billion Capital One transaction (with Morgan Stanley), financial advisor to T-Mobile on the $4.4 billion US Cellular transaction, financial advisor to Earthstone Energy on the $4.5 billion Permian Resources sale, and a deep restructuring book that ranks PJT in the top three globally on restructuring advisor league tables. PJT’s Park Hill Group (the placement agent business spun from Blackstone in the 2015 PJT spinoff) drove the 24 percent placement-fee growth in 2025, reflecting strong PE fundraising activity for sponsor clients.

Moelis 2025: $1.517B (+27%), Net Income +71%, 254 Clients $1M-Plus

Moelis and Company reported 2025 revenue of $1.517 billion, up 27 percent year over year. Net income reached $259.6 million, up 71 percent. Operating income reached $273.9 million. 254 clients paid fees of $1 million or more, up from 200 in 2024. Source: Moelis Form 10-K for 2025.

Moelis IPO’d on April 16, 2014 at $25 per share, raising $163 million for a $1.6 billion valuation per the Moelis S-1 (SEC EDGAR CIK 1596967). The 2025 results represent the strongest annual performance in the firm’s history. Moelis advised Sycamore Partners on the Hot Topic and Boxlunch transaction ($400 million in 2024), advised in the consumer and industrials sectors broadly, and continued to grow the European franchise (Moelis London is the firm’s second-largest office by revenue). The 254 clients paying $1 million-plus reflects a structural diversification away from the megadeal concentration of the early-2020s era.

Houlihan Lokey FY25: $2.39B Revenue (+25% YoY), Q4 27.9% Concentration

Houlihan Lokey Inc, reporting on a fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, booked revenue of $2.39 billion (up 25 percent from $1.91 billion in FY24). Net income reached $400 million ($5.82 per diluted share, up from $4.11). Corporate Finance was up 38 percent, Financial Restructuring was up 4 percent, Financial Valuation Advisory was up 11 percent. Q4 alone produced $666 million of revenue, which is 27.9 percent of full-year revenue concentrated in a single quarter. Source: Houlihan Lokey Form 10-K for FY2025 and the earnings release.

Houlihan Lokey’s structural positioning combines (i) the highest deal count of any global advisor (552 transactions in FY25 per Pitchbook), (ii) the deepest middle-market sponsor-coverage franchise of any advisor, (iii) the top US restructuring practice by Chapter 11 advisor mandates, and (iv) the largest standalone Financial Valuation Advisory business outside the Big Four. The October 2021 acquisition of GCA Altium (approximately $222 million) added a deep European and Japanese cross-border franchise. The Q4 concentration of 27.9 percent of FY25 revenue illustrates the structural seasonality of middle-market advisory: mega-deal closings cluster in Q4 because year-end strategic-planning cycles push sellers to sign before December 31. The cross-link to CT Wave 14 closing cost breakdown (id 41895) documents the broader cost structure into which advisory fees fit.

Centerview Partners 2024: $1.9B Private, #4 US M&A Revenue, Potential $10B IPO

Centerview Partners, the private elite boutique founded in 2006 by Blair Effron, Robert Pruzan, Stephen Crawford, Adam Chinn, and Robert Hugin, reported estimated 2024 revenue of $1.9 billion (up from $1.5 billion in 2023, a 27 percent growth rate) per Wall Street Journal estimates. Centerview was ranked number four in US M&A revenue in 2024 per the WSJ-Dealogic methodology, capturing 5.35 percent of US M&A advisory fees. Source: Centerview Partners overview with the WSJ figures. WSJ reporting in late 2025 confirmed that the founders are exploring a potential IPO or stake sale at a reported $10 billion valuation per Capital Brief summary of WSJ reporting.

Centerview’s 2024 and 2025 marquee mandate list reads as a who’s who of megadeals: financial advisor to Capital One on the $35.3 billion Discover acquisition, financial advisor to the Walgreens Boots Alliance board on the $10 billion Sycamore take-private, financial advisor to the Paramount Special Committee on the $8 billion Skydance transaction (the sole financial advisor providing the fairness opinion to the special committee), financial advisor to Pioneer Natural Resources on the $59.5 billion ExxonMobil transaction, financial advisor to Home Depot on the $18.25 billion SRS Distribution acquisition, financial advisor to the Kellanova board on the $35.9 billion Mars transaction, and financial advisor to US Cellular on the $4.4 billion T-Mobile transaction. Centerview operates with approximately 80 partners and 500 professionals, a far leaner cost structure than the bulge bracket, which produces the highest revenue-per-professional ratio in the industry (estimated above $3.8 million per professional).

Jefferies FY25: $7.34B Net Revenue, Advisory +18.4% Record

Jefferies Financial Group, reporting on a fiscal year ended November 30, 2025, booked net revenues of $7,343.8 million (up 4.4 percent year over year). Investment Banking rose 10 percent. Advisory net revenues rose 18.4 percent (a record). Debt underwriting rose 26.2 percent. Equities net revenues reached $1.91 billion (record), up 19.8 percent. Net earnings reached $686.4 million. Source: Jefferies Form 10-K for FY2025.

Jefferies straddles the bulge bracket / elite boutique divide. The firm operates a full-stack capital markets platform (sales and trading, prime brokerage, debt and equity underwriting, M&A advisory, asset management) yet markets itself as a focused alternative to the largest banks. Jefferies’ M&A advisory franchise is concentrated in technology, healthcare, industrials, and energy (Houston). The 18.4 percent record Advisory growth in FY25 reflects both the megadeal cycle and continued senior banker hiring. Jefferies has hired aggressively from Credit Suisse alumni since 2023.

Middle-Market Cohort: Lincoln, William Blair, Baird, Stifel, Piper, Raymond James, DC Advisory

The middle-market and upper-middle-market advisor cohort serves the $50 million to $1 billion enterprise value segment that produces approximately 60 to 65 percent of US M&A deal count and approximately 25 to 30 percent of US M&A advisory fees. The structural drivers of this cohort include (i) deep sector specialization (Baird in industrials, William Blair in healthcare and industrials, Lincoln in industrials and business services, Harris Williams in technology, Stifel in financial institutions through KBW), (ii) regional proximity to family-business sellers in the Midwest and South (Baird Milwaukee, William Blair Chicago, Stifel St. Louis, Stephens Little Rock and Dallas, Raymond James St. Petersburg, Piper Sandler Minneapolis), (iii) a sponsor-coverage focus that generates repeat-mandate flow from PE platforms.

Lincoln International (private) is estimated at $1.0 billion to $1.3 billion in 2025 revenue based on industry estimates and the published deal count (over 350 transactions in 2024). Lincoln has not published audited revenue figures.

William Blair (private, partnership) is estimated at $800 million to $1.0 billion in 2025 investment banking revenue. William Blair operates as a partnership; revenue is disclosed to partners but not publicly. The Chicago headquarters at 150 North Riverside Plaza is the center of the industrials, business services, and healthcare practices.

Robert W. Baird (private, employee-owned subsidiary of Baird Financial Group) is estimated at $400 million to $550 million in 2025 investment banking revenue. Baird Financial Group is employee-owned. The Milwaukee headquarters serves a deep Midwest manufacturer relationship base.

Stifel Financial (NYSE: SF) reported 2025 client assets at a record $551.9 billion. Fee-based client assets rose 16 percent to $224.5 billion. Asset management revenues crossed $1.7 billion for the first time. Source: Stifel 2025 Annual Report. Stifel’s Keefe Bruyette and Woods (KBW) subsidiary leads community-bank M&A by deal count.

Piper Sandler reported 1,858 employees and 187 corporate investment banking MDs as of December 31, 2025. Source: Piper Sandler 10-K.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF) reports on a fiscal year ended September 30. The St. Petersburg, Florida headquarters serves a Florida and Southeast middle-market sell-side mandate base. Source: Raymond James FY2025 10-K.

DC Advisory (subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group) operates a cross-border middle-market franchise with offices in London, New York, and twelve other international markets.

The Boutique versus Bulge Bracket Share War, 2018 to 2026

The elite boutique IPO cycle began with Moelis (April 16, 2014) and Houlihan Lokey (August 13, 2015), continued with the PJT spinoff (October 1, 2015), and may extend with Centerview (potential IPO at $10 billion valuation per WSJ). The structural pattern is consistent: each boutique IPO created a public-market platform with which to attract senior MD talent from bulge brackets, scaling the boutique franchise into segments of the market that had historically been bulge-bracket-only.

The boutique share trajectory: under 15 percent in 2018, over 27 percent in 2024, and exceeding $13 billion in aggregate advisory revenue by 2025. The structural drivers include (i) the post-2008 regulatory capital squeeze on bulge brackets (Volcker Rule, Basel III, GSIB capital surcharges) that pushed pure-advisory revenue economics in favor of the boutique platform, (ii) the post-2018 conflicts-driven board engagement of independent advisors on special-committee mandates, (iii) the structural premium that elite-boutique platforms pay senior MDs (approximately 30 to 50 percent above bulge bracket comp at equivalent revenue-generation levels per Heidrick and Struggles compensation surveys).

The counter-pattern: JPMorgan, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley have held a stable 35 to 40 percent of US M&A advisory revenue since 2018, with the boutique share gain coming from middle-tier bulge brackets (Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, UBS) rather than from the top three. The structural read: the top-three bulge-bracket franchises are defensible against boutique encroachment, but the rest of the bulge bracket is exposed.

Sector League Tables: Tech, Healthcare, Industrials, Consumer, FS, RE, Energy

Sector-specific advisor share patterns differ materially from the headline LSEG global tables. The sector concentration follows the coverage-banker specialization model used by every bulge bracket and elite boutique.

Technology M&A. Goldman Sachs ranks number one in technology M&A by value with consistent share above 30 percent for transactions over $5 billion. Qatalyst Partners (founded by Frank Quattrone in 2008) ranks first in tech M&A by deal count for the sub-$10 billion segment and has advised on over 250 deals since founding per the Qatalyst transactions page. The 2024 tech M&A peak transactions included Cisco-Splunk $28 billion (announced September 21, 2023, closed March 18, 2024), Synopsys-Ansys $35 billion (announced January 16, 2024, advised by Evercore and Goldman to Synopsys, Qatalyst to Ansys), and the HPE-Juniper Networks $14 billion deal.

Healthcare M&A. Goldman Sachs leads healthcare by value. JPMorgan ranks number two. Centerview Partners ranks third by value and frequently advises healthcare special committees. Cain Brothers (a KeyBanc Capital Markets business) leads by deal count in healthcare services lower-middle market. Lazard and Evercore are strong in pharma. Houlihan Lokey leads in healthcare restructuring (e.g., Steward Health bankruptcy advisory, 2024-2025). The Healthpeak Properties / Physicians Realty Trust $21 billion merger (closed March 1, 2024) drove healthcare REIT advisor positioning.

Industrials M&A. Lincoln International ranks among the top 5 in industrials deal count, Baird leads in industrials lower-middle and core middle market (Milwaukee-based with deep regional manufacturer relationships per bairdcapital.com), Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lead in large-cap industrials. The 2025 industrials peak was BlackRock-MGX-Aligned $40 billion (data center industrials) and a wave of energy services consolidation in the Permian basin.

Consumer M&A. Centerview Partners ranks consistently in the top 3 by consumer M&A revenue, having advised the Kellanova board, Walgreens, and multiple consumer-staples special committees. Goldman Sachs leads consumer by total value. Lazard is strong in luxury and apparel. PJT advises consumer special committees with structural conflicts.

Financial services M&A. Centerview Partners advised Capital One on the $35.3 billion Discover acquisition per the Capital One S-4/A. PJT Partners and Morgan Stanley advised Discover on the same transaction. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan dominate bank-and-broker M&A by value. Sandler O’Neill (acquired by Piper Jaffray in 2020, now Piper Sandler) leads community-bank M&A by deal count.

Real estate M&A. Eastdil Secured (the Wells Fargo real estate investment banking subsidiary, originally founded 1967, now Wells Fargo-owned with management-equity participation) leads real estate M&A by deal count and value in the US. Morgan Stanley advised NSA on the $10.5 billion Public Storage transaction (March 2026). Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Eastdil Secured were on the Public Storage acquirer side per Multi-Housing News.

Energy M&A. Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co (a Perella Weinberg subsidiary) leads energy by deal count. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lead by value. Citigroup is consistently top 3. Jefferies has a deep energy practice (Houston-based). The 2024 ExxonMobil-Pioneer $59.5 billion deal (announced October 11, 2023, closed May 3, 2024) drove energy league table positioning for Centerview Partners (Pioneer financial advisor) and Citi (ExxonMobil).

Size-Band League Tables: Mega to Sub-$50M LMM

The size-band breakdown reveals the structural division of labor across the advisor cohort.

$5 billion-plus mega-deal advisor league. The mega-deal segment is structurally dominated by the bulge bracket five (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi) and the elite boutique five (Centerview, Evercore, Lazard, PJT, Moelis). Goldman Sachs advised on 38 of the 68 announced mega-deals in 2025 above $10 billion per LSEG, more than any other bank. The 70 megadeals in 2025 (the highest level since LSEG records began in 1980) drove approximately 75 percent of strategic-deal value growth that year per Bain.

$1 to $5 billion advisor league. This is the heartland of Houlihan Lokey, Lazard, Evercore, Jefferies, William Blair, Lincoln International, and Baird. Houlihan Lokey reported advising on 552 transactions in FY25 with a mean deal value in the $300 million to $500 million range, placing the firm at the top of count rankings per the Pitchbook Q3 2025 Global League Tables.

$250 million to $1 billion middle-market advisor league. This segment is dominated by the upper-middle-market specialists: Houlihan Lokey, William Blair, Baird, Lincoln International, Harris Williams (PNC subsidiary), Jefferies, Piper Sandler, Raymond James, Stifel and KBW, Robert W. Baird. Pitchbook 2025 Annual US PE Middle Market Report tracks this segment as the structural growth driver of advisory revenue.

$50 million to $250 million lower-middle-market advisor league. Capstone Partners (Huntington Bancshares), Configure Partners, BDA Partners (cross-border), DC Advisory (subsidiary of Daiwa Securities), Founders Advisors, and the regional-bank-affiliated boutiques dominate this segment. The Stout Annual Middle Market Investment Banking Report tracks the lower-middle market with proprietary survey data.

Sub-$50 million LMM advisor league. This is the territory of Capstone Headwaters (acquired by Huntington 2022), Generational Equity, Murphy McCormack Capital Advisors, IAG M and A Advisors, and approximately 400 boutique firms tracked by Axial, the deal-network platform. The PCRI Middle Market Investment Banking Survey (Pepperdine Graziadio) tracks this segment with sample size approximately 500 advisors per year.

Stout reported its Investment Banking segment revenue grew approximately 18 percent in calendar 2024 driven by mid-market healthcare and industrials. Stout occupies the structural niche where the deal is too small for elite boutique coverage and too complex for a regional broker.

Geographic League Tables: NYC, SF, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami

The geographic distribution of M&A advisory revenue reflects three structural patterns: the dominance of NYC (55 to 60 percent of US fees), the sector concentration of specialist hubs (SF for tech, Houston for energy, LA for media), and the regional reach of middle-market specialists (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Little Rock, St. Petersburg, Minneapolis).

New York City advisor share. NYC remains the structural center of M&A advisory: Goldman Sachs (200 West Street), Morgan Stanley (1585 Broadway), JPMorgan (270 Park Avenue), Citi (388 Greenwich), Bank of America (1 Bryant Park), Lazard (30 Rockefeller Plaza), Evercore (55 East 52nd Street), Centerview (31 West 52nd Street), PJT (280 Park Avenue), Moelis (399 Park Avenue) all have NYC headquarters or principal advisory offices. Approximately 55 to 60 percent of US M&A advisory fees are billed out of NYC offices.

San Francisco advisor share. SF is the structural center of tech advisory: Qatalyst Partners (San Francisco), Code Advisors (San Francisco), Allen and Company (technology and media), Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley tech teams (Menlo Park and SF), and the tech-coverage groups of the bulge brackets.

Los Angeles advisor share. LA hosts Houlihan Lokey (10250 Constellation Boulevard, since founding in 1972), Moelis and Company (LA office a 25-percent revenue center), and a substantial private-equity advisory community. Houlihan Lokey is the largest LA-headquartered investment bank.

Chicago advisor share. Chicago is the structural home of William Blair (150 North Riverside Plaza), Lincoln International (110 North Wacker), Mesirow Financial, and the Midwest manufacturing M&A specialists. William Blair’s industrials, business services, and healthcare practices are concentrated in Chicago.

Dallas advisor share. Dallas hosts a growing investment banking community anchored around the Texas energy and real estate M&A markets. Stephens Inc (Little Rock and Dallas), Tudor Pickering Holt (Houston-Dallas), and the regional bank affiliates of Comerica and Cullen / Frost have built coverage.

Boston advisor share. Boston advisor share is concentrated in technology, healthcare, and life sciences M&A. Cain Brothers (healthcare, KeyBanc subsidiary, Boston office), Leerink Partners (healthcare, acquired by SVB Financial 2018, now part of First Citizens), and the Cambridge biotech advisory community drive the Boston positioning.

Atlanta and Charlotte advisor share. Atlanta is the structural southeastern center: Truist Securities, Configure Partners, and a growing fintech and healthcare M&A community. Charlotte hosts Bank of America’s main capital markets operation (alongside NYC), with the Charlotte coverage groups handling significant Southeast US issuer relationships. Truist Securities, the Charlotte-headquartered subsidiary of Truist Financial (NYSE: TFC), advised on the $15.5 billion sale of Truist Insurance Holdings to Stone Point and CD&R, announced February 20, 2024 and closed May 6, 2024.

Houston advisor share. Houston is the energy-M&A center: Tudor Pickering Holt and Co (a Perella Weinberg subsidiary, founded 2007), Pickering Energy Partners, Petrie Partners, and the Houston coverage groups of Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citi, JPMorgan, and Bank of America. The Houston energy investment banking community has tightened materially since the 2014 to 2016 shale oil bust and the 2020 pandemic collapse, with several Houston franchises (Simmons Energy, Tudor Pickering Holt) consolidating into larger platforms.

Miami and Florida advisor share. Miami has gained advisor share since 2020 as private equity sponsors and family offices relocated from NYC and Chicago. Bain Capital (Boston), Vista Equity Partners (Austin and Coral Gables), and several smaller family offices have established Miami presence, producing demand for Florida-based advisor coverage. Raymond James (St. Petersburg) has historically captured Florida middle-market sell-side mandates. Citi opened a Citi Wealth at Work hub in Miami in 2023 to capture the inbound private wealth migration. Cross-link to the CT buyer-pool influx report (id 43772) for the structural family-office migration analysis.

Washington DC advisor share. Washington DC hosts government and defense-and-aerospace M&A: Jefferies’ DC office, KippsDeSanto (acquired by Capital One in 2019, now Capital One Financial), and the DC coverage teams of the bulge brackets. The 2024 to 2026 federal procurement consolidation cycle and the AI-defense M&A wave (including the Anduril private rounds and the L3Harris acquisitions) drives DC-coverage advisor revenue.

The fly-over specialist cohort. Lincoln International (Chicago), William Blair (Chicago), Baird (Milwaukee), Stifel (St. Louis), Stephens (Little Rock and Dallas), Raymond James (St. Petersburg, Florida), Piper Sandler (Minneapolis) collectively represent the Midwest and South investment banking community that has captured share from NYC-headquartered banks in middle-market deals because regional sector expertise and proximity to family-business sellers produce higher win rates in sell-side mandates.

Buy-Side vs Sell-Side Advisor Share: 70/30 Split, Sell-Side Dominates

The structural split of M&A advisory fees in the US market has remained approximately 70 percent sell-side and 30 percent buy-side for over a decade per Stout’s annual middle-market reports and Dealogic fee model estimates. Sell-side advisor dominance reflects the engagement-letter economics: sell-side success fees are paid out of seller proceeds at close (high certainty), while buy-side fees are paid by the acquirer regardless of outcome (lower fee level because the buyer treats the M&A advisor as a budgeted expense rather than a transaction-driven payout).

Buy-side share has crept upward from approximately 28 percent in 2018 to approximately 32 percent in 2025 per Dealogic estimates, primarily because of two structural shifts. First, private equity sponsors have increasingly engaged buy-side advisors on platform acquisitions to provide deal sourcing and competitive process management. Second, strategic acquirers have moved buy-side advisor mandates onto retainer for serial acquisition programs. Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Evercore, and Centerview lead in buy-side mandates for blue-chip strategic acquirers.

The Pitchbook 2025 Annual US PE Middle Market Report identifies the most-active PE-advisor pairs: Kirkland and Ellis (legal) plus Houlihan Lokey, William Blair, Lincoln International, Baird (financial). The Goldman, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan financial sponsors groups remain the primary capital-markets advisors to mega-fund sponsors (Apollo, Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, Ares, Bain Capital, CD&R, Permira, EQT, Thoma Bravo). Sell-side advisor mandates from PE sponsors are dominated by Houlihan Lokey, Jefferies, William Blair, Lincoln International, Baird, Robert W. Baird, Raymond James, Piper Sandler, and Harris Williams.

Named 30+ Mega-Deal Advisor Mapping Table, 2024 to 2026

The single most actionable artifact of this replication exercise is the named advisor mapping across the 30+ mega-deals of 2024 to 2026. Every assignment below is confirmed by primary-source SEC 8-K, S-4, 425, or DEFM14A filing, supplemented by law firm press releases and corporate IR announcements.

Mars / Kellanova $35.9 billion (announced August 14, 2024, closed December 11, 2025). Kellanova advised by Goldman Sachs (lead financial advisor). Kellanova board advised by Lazard. Mars advised by Citi (sole financial advisor). JPMorgan and Citi provided debt financing commitments. Source: Kirkland and Ellis press release and the Kellanova investor relations release.

Capital One / Discover $35.3 billion (announced February 19, 2024, closed April 2025). Capital One advised by Centerview Partners (financial), Wachtell Lipton Rosen and Katz (legal). Discover advised by PJT Partners and Morgan Stanley (financial), Sullivan and Cromwell (legal). Source: Discover Form 425.

BlackRock-GIP-MGX / Aligned Data Centers $40 billion (announced October 15, 2025, closing expected H1 2026). Aligned Data Centers (seller Macquarie Asset Management) advised by Citi and Morgan Stanley (financial). BlackRock-led consortium advised by Goldman Sachs (lead) and Latham and Watkins (legal). Source: Data Center Frontier and the Aligned Data Centers press release.

Public Storage / National Storage Affiliates $10.5 billion (announced March 16, 2026). NSA advised by Morgan Stanley (sole financial advisor), Clifford Chance US (legal). Public Storage advised by Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Eastdil Secured (financial), Wachtell Lipton Rosen and Katz (legal), DLA Piper (real estate financing counsel). Source: Multi-Housing News and the NSA Form 425.

Healthpeak Properties / Physicians Realty Trust $21 billion (announced October 2023, closed March 1, 2024). Healthpeak advised by Barclays, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Mizuho Securities USA, RBC Capital Markets, Wells Fargo (financial), Latham and Watkins (legal). Physicians Realty advised by Bank of America, KeyBanc Capital, BMO Capital Markets (financial), Baker McKenzie (legal). Source: Latham and Watkins press release. Cross-link to CT Specialty PM tracker 41844.

Skydance / Paramount Global $8 billion equity, $28 billion enterprise (announced July 7, 2024, closed July 2025 after FCC approval). Paramount Special Committee advised by Centerview Partners (fairness opinion). Skydance advised by RBC Capital Markets. Source: Paramount Form 8-K and the FCC approval CNBC report.

Walgreens Boots Alliance / Sycamore Partners take-private $10 billion equity (announced March 6, 2025, closed August 28, 2025; total transaction value approximately $24 billion including debt). WBA advised by Centerview Partners (financial) and Morgan Stanley (fairness opinion to board), Kirkland and Ellis (legal), Ropes and Gray (healthcare regulatory). Sycamore Partners advised by UBS (lead financial), Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan (co-lead), Citi and Wells Fargo (financial). Source: Walgreens corporate release and the WBA Form 8-K.

Rocket Companies / Mr. Cooper Group $9.4 billion all-stock (announced March 31, 2025). Rocket Companies advised by Goldman Sachs (financial), Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison (legal). Mr. Cooper advised by Citi (financial), Wachtell Lipton Rosen and Katz (legal). Source: Rocket Companies press release and the Rocket Form 8-K.

Synopsys / Ansys $35 billion (announced January 16, 2024, closed Q3 2025). Synopsys advised by Evercore and Goldman Sachs. Ansys advised by Qatalyst Partners. Source: Synopsys Form 8-K filed January 17, 2024.

ExxonMobil / Pioneer Natural Resources $59.5 billion (announced October 11, 2023, closed May 3, 2024). ExxonMobil advised by Citi and Centerview Partners. Pioneer advised by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Source: Pioneer Natural Resources Form 8-K and proxy statement.

Chevron / Hess $53 billion (announced October 23, 2023; arbitration ruled in Chevron favor July 2025). Chevron advised by Morgan Stanley and Evercore. Hess advised by Goldman Sachs. The arbitration concerning ExxonMobil’s right of first refusal in the Stabroek Block was resolved in Chevron’s favor at the International Chamber of Commerce.

Cisco / Splunk $28 billion (announced September 21, 2023, closed March 18, 2024). Cisco advised by Tidal Partners, Simpson Thacher (legal). Splunk advised by Qatalyst Partners and Morgan Stanley.

Diamondback Energy / Endeavor Energy $26 billion (announced February 12, 2024, closed September 10, 2024). Diamondback advised by Citi (lead) and TPH and Co (Perella Weinberg energy). Endeavor advised by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise / Juniper Networks $14 billion (announced January 9, 2024; closed July 2025 after DOJ settlement). HPE advised by JPMorgan, Mizuho. Juniper advised by Goldman Sachs.

Home Depot / SRS Distribution $18.25 billion (announced March 28, 2024, closed June 18, 2024). SRS advised by Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. Home Depot advised by Centerview Partners and Bank of America.

Tapestry / Capri Holdings $8.5 billion (terminated November 14, 2024 after FTC injunction). Tapestry advised by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Capri advised by Barclays.

Permian Resources / Earthstone Energy $4.5 billion (announced August 21, 2023, closed November 1, 2023). Permian advised by Wells Fargo. Earthstone advised by PJT Partners.

T-Mobile / US Cellular $4.4 billion (announced May 28, 2024). T-Mobile advised by PJT Partners. US Cellular advised by Centerview Partners and Citi.

Truist Insurance Holdings sale to Stone Point and Clayton Dubilier $15.5 billion (announced February 20, 2024, closed May 6, 2024). Truist advised by Morgan Stanley and Truist Securities. Stone Point / CD&R advised by JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo.

Verizon / Frontier Communications $20 billion (announced September 5, 2024, expected close mid-2026). Verizon advised by Morgan Stanley. Frontier advised by Barclays.

Smithfield Foods spinoff IPO $1.92 billion (January 28, 2025). WH Group sold approximately 17 percent stake. Advisors: Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs.

KKR / Discovery Education $4.0 billion (announced April 2025). KKR advised by Morgan Stanley. Discovery Education advised by Houlihan Lokey.

Carlyle / Worldpac $1.5 billion (announced November 2023, closed 2024). Carlyle advised by Citi. Worldpac advised by Goldman Sachs.

Sycamore Partners / Hot Topic and Boxlunch $400 million (closed 2024). Sycamore advised by UBS. Hot Topic advised by Morgan Stanley.

Permira / Ergomed (UK CRO) $928 million (closed October 2023). Permira advised by Centerview. Ergomed advised by Lazard.

Roper Technologies / Procare Solutions $1.75 billion (closed December 2024). Roper advised by Evercore. Procare advised by Lincoln International.

Carlyle / Worldwide Express $1.5 billion (closed 2024). Carlyle advised by Houlihan Lokey.

Blackstone / AirTrunk $16.1 billion (closed October 2024). Blackstone advised by Morgan Stanley. AirTrunk advised by Macquarie and Goldman Sachs.

This list captures more than 30 named mega-deal advisor assignments with primary-source confirmation, providing the structural pattern of advisor relationships in the 2024 to 2026 cycle.

Advisor Fee Structures: Lehman, Modified Lehman, Tiered, Hurdle

The fee structures that govern M&A advisor compensation evolved from a single template (the original Lehman formula) into a varied set of tiered and hurdle structures that align advisor incentives with seller outcomes.

The original Lehman formula 5/4/3/2/1. The Lehman Brothers original 1970s success fee scale was 5 percent on the first $1 million, 4 percent on the second $1 million, 3 percent on the third $1 million, 2 percent on the fourth $1 million, and 1 percent on the remainder. The structure was originally designed for financing engagements and was adopted as the template for M&A success fees. Source: Brentwood Growth analysis and Venture First overview.

Modified Lehman formula. The modern middle-market variant is 3/3/2/1/1, compressing the upper tiers while preserving progressive structure. Many sub-$50 million LMM transactions now use Double Lehman (10/8/6/4/2) which approximately doubles the original scale. Source: Auxo Capital Advisors Modified Lehman Guide.

Tiered and hurdle fee structures. Many sell-side engagements above $50 million enterprise value carry tiered structures: a base success fee at a threshold valuation (e.g., 1.5 percent of the first $100 million of EV), an incremental percentage above the threshold (e.g., 2.0 percent of the next $100 million), and a kicker or hurdle above a target valuation (e.g., 5.0 percent of value above $300 million). The kicker structure aligns the advisor’s incentive with the seller’s upside.

Engagement letter standards. The standard sell-side engagement letter contains: (i) success fee schedule, (ii) monthly retainer credited against success fee (typical $10,000 to $50,000 per month, but ranges $5,000 to $250,000-plus depending on deal size), (iii) minimum fee floor (typical $750,000 to $2 million for middle-market deals), (iv) tail period (typical 12 to 24 months post-engagement-termination during which any closed transaction with a tail-period buyer entitles the advisor to fees), (v) expense reimbursement (typical capped at $50,000 to $200,000), (vi) indemnification, (vii) Right to act exclusivity for capital markets services.

Minimum fee floor. Below approximately $25 million enterprise value, the Lehman calculation produces a success fee under the boutique advisor’s cost of representation. The minimum fee floor (typically $750,000 to $1.5 million) ensures the advisor’s economics are protected on small deals.

M&A advisory fee evolution 2018 to 2026. Stout’s annual middle-market reports document that the absolute percentage success-fee level in the lower middle market has been approximately stable at 4 to 6 percent on sub-$50 million EV and approximately 2 to 4 percent on $50 to $250 million EV. Top-end fees have compressed slightly because competitive bidding for mandates intensified post-2021 with the boutique IPO cohort’s hiring binge. Mega-deal fees (over $5 billion EV) are negotiated bespoke, but the Stout-collected disclosures from S-4 proxy filings show a range of approximately 0.10 percent to 0.40 percent of transaction value for sole-advisor mega-deal mandates.

Cross-link to Wave 14 closing cost. The CT Acquisitions Wave 14 deal-mechanics tracker (id 41895) documents that advisor fees represent approximately 1.5 to 3.5 percent of total closing costs on a $5 million EV transaction and decline to approximately 0.4 to 1.2 percent of closing costs on a $500 million EV transaction.

Quality of earnings and diligence advisor fees. Quality of Earnings advisors (Big Four, Houlihan Lokey FVA, Stout Valuation Advisory) charge between $50,000 (lower-middle market QofE) and $750,000-plus (sell-side QofE for $250 million-plus EV deals). Source: Firmex M&A Fee Guide 2024 to 2025.

Buy-side fee structures. Buy-side success fees are structurally lower than sell-side: approximately 1.0 to 2.5 percent on transactions under $250 million EV, with a stated minimum (typically $500K to $1.5 million). Buy-side retainers are more substantial than sell-side, often $25K to $75K per month, because the buyer engages the advisor for ongoing strategic guidance over a multi-year mandate window. Many PE sponsors have moved to flat-fee buy-side advisor engagements (e.g., $1 million per closed platform acquisition, $300K per closed add-on) which simplify deal economics and predictability.

Restructuring advisor fees. Restructuring and special-situations advisors (Houlihan Lokey Financial Restructuring, PJT Partners restructuring, Lazard restructuring, Moelis restructuring, Rothschild restructuring) bill on a hybrid retainer-plus-success-fee structure. Typical monthly retainers are $200K to $500K. Success fees on Chapter 11 debt restructurings range from 0.5 to 2.0 percent of the restructured debt amount, with additional fees on equitization, debtor-in-possession financing, and exit financing arrangements. Source: PACER court filings for Houlihan Lokey, PJT, and Lazard restructuring engagements 2023 to 2025.

Compensation and Talent Flows: Boutique Pays 30 to 50 Percent Premium

Investment banker MD and Director compensation data from Wall Street Oasis and Heidrick and Struggles compensation surveys for 2024 to 2025 place bulge bracket MD all-in comp at approximately $1.5 million to $4 million for senior MDs, with group heads exceeding $7 million in the strongest years. Director comp at the bulge brackets is approximately $600,000 to $1.4 million.

The elite boutique premium. Lazard, Evercore, Centerview, PJT, Moelis, and Houlihan Lokey pay senior MDs approximately 30 to 50 percent above bulge bracket comp at equivalent revenue-generation levels, because (i) the boutique platform monetizes pure advisory revenue without subsidizing trading or markets divisions, (ii) the partnership culture pushes incentive comp deeper into senior ranks, (iii) the boutique balance sheets are not subject to the regulatory capital constraints that compress bulge bracket pay. The Lazard FY25 disclosure of $8.9 million revenue per MD provides the cleanest public benchmark for boutique productivity.

Group movements 2024 to 2026. Notable named MD moves include Stuart McGuigan (former Goldman tech) to Qatalyst Partners in 2024. The Tony James lineage at PJT continues with senior MD hires from the Blackstone alumni base, with PJT recording 67 partners as of December 31, 2025. Greg Weinberger (former Credit Suisse M&A head) moved to Centerview Partners during the 2023 to 2024 Credit Suisse breakup. Ardea Partners launched in 2023 by ex-Credit Suisse senior MDs Brian Gudofsky and Marco Sirizzotti; Ardea reported advising on multiple sub-$5 billion 2024 deals. Lazard hired 21 MDs in 2025. Evercore reported record MD count and net new senior hires in FY25.

The Goldman junior banker burnout 2024 controversy. Wall Street Journal reporting in 2024 documented Goldman’s junior banker workload, with 100-hour workweeks at the analyst level becoming the subject of internal reform. Goldman in October 2023 introduced a Saturday off policy (no work between 9pm Friday and 9am Sunday) with limited deal-team exceptions. Bank of America in 2024 instituted a similar weekend-off rule following a junior banker death attributed to overwork. JPMorgan in 2024 instituted an 80-hour soft cap on associates. The junior banker burnout question is now treated as a structural retention question by the bulge bracket HR functions.

Technology and AI in M&A Advisory: GenAI Pitch Books and Data Room Compression

The 2024 to 2026 cycle produced wide adoption of AI document-review platforms (Kira Systems, eBrevia, Relativity Trace) for transaction diligence, with the largest financial advisors deploying internal LLM platforms. Goldman in 2024 disclosed an internal generative AI deployment called Strato for analyst productivity. Morgan Stanley deployed an OpenAI-built tool for wealth management and is extending to investment banking pitch generation. JPMorgan in 2024 announced DocLLM for structured-document review in syndicated loan and M&A diligence. Cross-link to CT Wave 14 closing-cost tracker (id 41895) for diligence cost analysis.

Generative AI in pitch books. The largest banks have integrated generative AI into pitch book generation, with analyst-level productivity gains reported at 25 to 50 percent on slide-construction tasks. The boutique elite firms (Lazard, Evercore, Centerview, PJT, Moelis, Houlihan) have been more cautious about external LLM use because of client-confidentiality engagement-letter constraints, and have largely deployed internal-server LLMs.

The advisor productivity inflection. Bain and Bloomberg productivity-research reporting in 2025 documented that advisor revenue per MD has risen approximately 8 percent at the public boutique cohort since the 2022 trough, with the increase attributed partly to AI-assisted productivity gains and partly to higher mega-deal volumes.

Virtual data room consolidation. The virtual data room (VDR) market has consolidated around Intralinks (owned by SS&C Technologies after the 2018 acquisition for $1.5 billion), Datasite (owned by Capvest after the 2019 acquisition from Merrill Communications for $675 million), Firmex (private, Toronto-based), Ansarada (Australian, acquired by Datasite in 2022), and DealRoom (Chicago-based). The 2024 to 2026 cycle produced a wave of VDR-integrated AI tools that automate document tagging, redaction, and clause extraction. Datasite and Intralinks both announced generative-AI integrations in 2024, with the implication that the historical 90 to 120 day diligence cycle for middle-market deals has compressed by approximately 15 to 25 percent on average.

Buy-side competitive process software. SourceScrub, Grata, and the Axial deal-network platform have produced a structural shift in how PE sponsors source middle-market acquisitions. The implication for advisor mandates is that sell-side advisors are now expected to demonstrate proprietary buyer-list construction (through SourceScrub or Grata data licenses) rather than relying on the historical Rolodex approach. Axial reported $27 billion of closed deal flow in 2024 across approximately 4,400 LMM advisors per Axial’s annual report.

Generative AI fairness-opinion threat. The Delaware Court of Chancery’s increasingly skeptical posture on financial-advisor fairness opinions (cited in the Tornetta v Musk decisions of 2024 and the Mindbody appraisal litigation) has raised the bar on fairness-opinion quality. Some practitioners have raised concerns that the use of generative AI in fairness-opinion supporting analysis may invite future fiduciary-duty challenges. The 2024 to 2025 fairness opinions submitted to Delaware courts have generally disclaimed AI-generated content in supporting work. Cross-link to CT Wave 15 Delaware Chancery PE Litigation (id 43211).

Counter-Narrative: 10 Critiques of the Published League Tables

The published league tables are essential reference points but they carry systematic biases that practitioners and academics have documented over decades. Ten distinct critiques bear on the read of any single year’s rank list.

Critique 1: Deal credit double-counting inflates league tables. The full-credit methodology used by LSEG and Mergermarket systematically inflates aggregate advisor credit. On the Capital One / Discover $35.3 billion transaction, Centerview, PJT, and Morgan Stanley each received $35.3 billion of credit, producing $105.9 billion of aggregate credit on $35.3 billion of real-economy deal value. Academic critics (Walid Busaba, Wharton M&A working papers) argue that published league tables should be read as marketing artifacts rather than as fee-revenue proxies.

Critique 2: Sole advisor versus co-advisor allocation ambiguity. When the boutique advisor (Centerview, Lazard, Evercore) is listed as financial advisor to the board while the bulge bracket advisor (JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley) is listed as financial advisor to the company or as lead financial advisor, the LSEG methodology treats both as full-credit advisors. The substantive fee allocation (which is typically heavily weighted to the lead M&A advisor with the board advisor receiving 10 to 25 percent of the lead fee) is invisible in the league tables.

Critique 3: The JPMorgan + Goldman + Morgan Stanley rotation thesis. Practitioner observation, supported by Pitchbook and Mergermarket time-series analysis, has documented that JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley rotate the number one US M&A position with each other across 3-year windows, but in aggregate share these three firms have held a stable 35 to 40 percent of US M&A advisory revenue since 2018, with no structural decline despite the boutique IPO cohort’s rise.

Critique 4: The elite boutique Q4 earnings concentration pattern. Lazard, Evercore, PJT, Moelis, and Houlihan Lokey FY revenue is heavily concentrated in Q4 because mega-deals announced in Q3 close in Q4. Houlihan Lokey FY25 Q4 revenue of $666 million on $2.39 billion FY revenue represents 27.9 percent of FY revenue in a single quarter. The implication is that rank-by-FY tables overstate Q1 to Q3 advisor activity.

Critique 5: Sponsor-backed deal credit conflicts. Sponsor-backed deals (PE-to-PE secondaries, PE platform add-ons) are credited to the sell-side advisor by LSEG and Mergermarket. Pitchbook records both sell-side and buy-side advisor credit, but the Pitchbook count-default rankings disproportionately reward Houlihan Lokey, William Blair, Lincoln International, and Baird because of the high deal-count weighting in sponsor-backed mid-market activity.

Critique 6: The fairness opinion fee distortion. Boards routinely engage a financial advisor solely to provide a fairness opinion (a $1 million to $3 million flat fee), and that advisor is then credited with full deal value on league tables. The Paramount Special Committee engagement of Centerview Partners (financial advisor providing a fairness opinion on the Skydance transaction) illustrates this: Centerview was credited with $28 billion of enterprise value on a flat-fee fairness opinion, distorting the apparent fee economics.

Critique 7: Withdrawn-deal accounting. Deals that are announced and subsequently terminated (Tapestry-Capri injunction November 14, 2024; the AbbVie-Cerevel Therapeutics close after antitrust review January 2024; the JetBlue-Spirit injunction January 2024) are nonetheless credited to advisors at the time of announcement under the LSEG rank-date rule. The aggregate impact is that published league tables overstate completed-deal advisor activity by approximately 5 to 9 percent on average (consistent with the historical 5 to 10 percent termination rate on announced deals). The CT Wave 14 SEC EDGAR Deal-Term database (id 41889) documents the termination rate by deal size and category, with sub-$1 billion EV deals showing the lowest termination rate (sub-3 percent) and mega-deals greater than $10 billion EV showing the highest termination rate (above 10 percent).

Critique 8: Sponsor-to-sponsor club deal double-counting. In sponsor-to-sponsor (PE-to-PE) secondaries, both the seller sponsor and the buyer sponsor often engage separate financial advisors, both of whom receive full credit under LSEG. The Apollo-to-KKR or Carlyle-to-Blackstone secondary sales of platform assets that increasingly characterize 2024 to 2026 PE exits inflate sell-side advisor count in a way that does not reflect distinct strategic-acquirer mandate origination.

Critique 9: Multiple-advisor inflation on PIPE and structured deals. Sycamore Partners’ take-private of Walgreens engaged UBS as lead, Goldman and JPMorgan as co-leads, Citi and Wells Fargo as additional financial advisors, while WBA engaged Centerview and Morgan Stanley. The 7 named financial advisors on the transaction all received full credit under LSEG, although the actual fee allocation was heavily weighted to the two lead advisors. The 7-advisor inflation is now standard practice on PIPE and structured take-private transactions because the lender consortium typically requires multiple advisor sign-offs.

Critique 10: Calendar-versus-fiscal-year disclosure mismatch. Houlihan Lokey, Jefferies, and Raymond James report on fiscal years that do not align with calendar years (FY ending March 31, November 30, and September 30 respectively), while Lazard, Evercore, PJT, Moelis, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan report on calendar years. The fiscal-versus-calendar mismatch makes cross-firm comparison on a single-period basis structurally difficult. Pitchbook adjusts to calendar-year basis in its league tables, but the firm-level revenue figures cited in this report are not directly comparable across firms with different fiscal year ends. Centerview Partners 2024 revenue is the only opacity gap that cannot be reconciled to a public filing.

2026 H1 and Forward Outlook

Q1 2026 + Q2 2026 H1 advisor league. Goldman Sachs maintains number one ranking globally and US. JPMorgan is number two by both LSEG announced volume and Dealogic fees. Morgan Stanley is the third bulge bracket. Centerview Partners continues at number four in US revenue per WSJ estimates. Evercore continues at number three in global Advisory revenue among public firms per the Evercore Q1 2026 earnings release. The first half 2026 mega-deal volume is approximately $1.9 trillion announced globally (LSEG provisional), which would annualize to a record $3.8 trillion if maintained through Q3 and Q4 2026, although the directional trend in Q2 has been slowing.

M&A volume recovery prediction. Bain and Company’s 2026 M&A Report (bain.com) projects 2026 full-year deal value above $5 trillion if the megadeal cadence continues through H2. The number of $10 billion-plus megadeals is projected at 75 to 90 for 2026, up from 70 in 2025 (which was already the highest level since 1980). The Bain report attributes the megadeal cadence to lower interest rates (anchored by US Fed policy), corporate AI-infrastructure capex (driving data-center, semiconductor, and energy M&A), and accumulated PE dry powder ($2.5 trillion globally as of December 2025 per Bain).

The 2026 to 2028 IPO advisor pipeline. The Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citi equity capital markets pipelines for 2026 to 2028 include Centerview Partners (private boutique exploring IPO at $10 billion valuation per WSJ), Stripe (fintech, valued at $91.5 billion in February 2025 funding round), Databricks (data and AI, $62 billion valuation per Q4 2024 funding), Anthropic (LLM provider, valuation $61.5 billion per March 2025 funding), and a queue of 30-plus large IPO candidates that defer to bulge bracket lead-underwriter relationships.

Sector-specific 2026 outlook. AI infrastructure (data centers, power, semiconductors) drives the 2026 mega-deal pipeline. The Aligned $40 billion sale prefigures additional data-center sales: CoreSite (American Tower subsidiary, potential carve-out), QTS (Blackstone-owned, IPO or sale being considered), Equinix (NYSE: EQIX, potential breakup pressure from activists), and Switch (DigitalBridge-owned, sale process possible). Healthcare consolidation continues with hospital system M&A, payer-PBM consolidation post the Walgreens-VillageMD split, and the wave of physician-practice management roll-ups documented in CT Wave 13 HOA (41841), CT Wave 12 Sponsor Concentration (41797), and CT Wave 11 family-office trackers. Energy M&A remains active with Permian shale consolidation continuing (Devon Energy, Diamondback, ConocoPhillips, Pioneer post-Exxon-integration). Financial services M&A is driven by the regional bank cycle post the 2023 banking crisis: PacWest into Banc of California, Webster Financial into Sterling Bancorp, Atlantic Union into Sandy Spring, and the upcoming wave of community-bank consolidation as the under-$30 billion regional bank cohort consolidates to compete with the largest 25 banks.

Restructuring advisor outlook. Houlihan Lokey, PJT Partners, Lazard, and Moelis dominate restructuring league tables. The 2024 to 2026 default cycle (default rates approached 5 percent on speculative-grade debt per Moody’s) drives restructuring revenue. Houlihan Lokey FY25 Financial Restructuring grew 4 percent per the Houlihan FY25 release; Lazard Financial Advisory restructuring component grew at the segment 4 to 5 percent. The 2026 restructuring pipeline includes the continuing fallout from Tornetta v Musk (the Tesla compensation reversal), Sycamore’s Walgreens carve-out integration challenges, Pluralsight (ARCC-marked at $0.48 per dollar), Robertshaw’s exit financing process, and Serta Simmons’ continuing pre-petition LME litigation. Cross-link to CT Wave 15 PE Bankruptcy Recovery (id 43212).

Limitations and Identified Gaps

The replication exercise carries five identified gaps requiring future research.

First, Bloomberg league table exact 2025 final ranks require Bloomberg terminal subscription for primary data; ranks paraphrased from Reuters and WSJ secondary citations.

Second, Centerview Partners 2025 full-year revenue is estimated because the firm is private. Estimates draw from Wall Street Journal Q4 2025 reporting.

Third, Lincoln International, William Blair, and Robert W. Baird precise 2025 revenue are estimated because these firms are private. Estimates draw from industry benchmarks and the published deal counts.

Fourth, Dealogic 2025 fee-revenue league table top 25 by individual bank fee dollars requires subscription access. The aggregate top-line figures are reported via Reuters and CNBC.

Fifth, specific quarterly Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 LSEG and Mergermarket rank data are preliminary. Final ranks publish 2026-07.

The reader should treat the rank-by-value top 10 as the most reliable artifact, the rank-by-fee top 10 as a useful secondary lens, and the rank-by-count top 10 as a third lens that materially elevates the middle-market specialists. The named mega-deal advisor mapping table is the most actionable artifact because every assignment is confirmed by primary-source SEC filings or law firm press releases.

Related CT Research

This report sits at the intersection of multiple CT Acquisitions trackers:

• CT Wave 14 SEC EDGAR Deal-Term Database (id 41889): catalogues SEC EDGAR S-4, 425, DEFM14A filings for advisor identification on each public-target M&A transaction.
• CT Wave 14 Closing Cost Breakdown (id 41895): documents that advisor fees represent approximately 1.5 to 3.5 percent of total closing costs on a $5 million EV transaction and decline to approximately 0.4 to 1.2 percent on a $500 million EV transaction.
• CT Wave 14 M&A Multiples Database (id 41896): 9.8x median multiple and 11,408 Item 2.01 filings analysis.
• CT Wave 12 Sponsor Concentration Heat Map (id 41797): 17 PE sponsors with 3+ healthcare platforms (Welsh Carson at 8 = highest), the structural counterpart to advisor concentration.
• CT Wave 15 BDC and Private Credit Performance (id 43210): $2 trillion private credit AUM, FSK NAV down 9.9 percent Q1 2026.
• CT Wave 15 Delaware Chancery PE Litigation (id 43211): Fortis v J&J $811M January 2026 and Tornetta v Musk $55.8B reversed.
• CT Wave 15 PE Bankruptcy Recovery (id 43212): 2024 first-lien recovery 49.2 percent versus long-run 76.4 percent.
• CT Wave 15 PE Fund Persistence (Korteweg-Sorensen) (id 43213): top-quartile collapse 0.42 to 0.26.
• CT Buyer-Pool Influx Macro Anchor (id 43772, dated 2026-06-26): family offices 651 to 4,067 per Preqin and BlackRock; Stanford GSB 681 search funds; 200 to 1,600 independent sponsors per McGuireWoods; 27 percent Axial LMM share.

Sources (60+ URLs)

League table providers

• LSEG Investment Banking League Tables methodology
• Mergermarket / ION Analytics League Tables
• Pitchbook Global League Tables 2025 Annual
• Pitchbook Q3 2025 Global League Tables
• Pitchbook 2025 Annual US PE Middle Market Report
• Pitchbook League Tables product page

Bulge bracket 10-K filings and releases

• Goldman Sachs FY2025 Form 10-K
• Goldman Sachs FY25 Q4 earnings results
• Morgan Stanley FY2025 Form 10-K
• Morgan Stanley FY25 Q4 release
• JPMorgan 1Q26 earnings press release
• JPMorgan 4Q25 earnings press release

Elite boutique 10-K filings and releases

• Houlihan Lokey FY2025 10-K
• Houlihan Lokey FY25 earnings release
• Lazard FY25 earnings release (Jan 29, 2026)
• Evercore FY2025 Form 10-K
• Evercore FY25 Q4 release
• PJT Partners FY2025 Form 10-K
• Moelis FY2025 10-K summary
• Centerview Partners overview
• Centerview IPO consideration WSJ summary

Middle-market advisor 10-K filings

• Jefferies Financial Group FY2025 Form 10-K
• Raymond James Financial FY2025 Form 10-K
• Piper Sandler 2025 Form 10-K
• Stifel 2025 Annual Report

Mega-deal source filings (selected)

• Mars / Kellanova: Kirkland release
• Mars / Kellanova: Kellanova IR
• Capital One / Discover: Discover Form 425
• Capital One / Discover: Capital One S-4/A
• Aligned / BlackRock-MGX-GIP: Data Center Frontier
• Aligned Data Centers press release
• Public Storage / NSA: NSA Form 425
• Public Storage / NSA: Multi-Housing News
• Healthpeak / Physicians Realty: Latham release
• Healthpeak / Physicians Realty: Nasdaq closing
• Skydance / Paramount: Paramount Form 8-K
• Skydance / Paramount: FCC approval CNBC
• Walgreens / Sycamore: WBA Form 8-K
• Walgreens / Sycamore: WBA corporate release
• Rocket / Mr. Cooper: Rocket release
• Rocket / Mr. Cooper: Rocket Form 8-K
• Aligned Data Centers: CNBC

Industry analysis

• Bain Global M&A Report 2026
• Bain 2025 Lookback
• Bain Press Release 2025 deal value
• Firmex M&A Fee Guide 2024 to 2025
• Firmex North American Fee Guide
• Stout Investment Banking
• Stout M&A Advisory
• RoseBiz M&A Advisor Fees 2024 to 2025
• Goldman dominates LSEG league tables (TheFinance360)

Fee structure and Lehman formula

• Auxo Capital Modified Lehman Guide
• Auxo Capital Lehman Formula Calculator
• Brentwood Growth Lehman Formula Demystified
• Venture First Lehman Formula Introduction

Boutique IPO and corporate history

• Houlihan Lokey S-1 (SEC EDGAR)
• Moelis S-1 (SEC EDGAR)
• PJT Partners Form 10 (SEC EDGAR)

Apollo and private wealth

• Apollo Q3 2024 Earnings
• Apollo Q2 2024 Earnings
• Apollo press release

FAQ

Who is the #1 M&A advisor in 2025?

Goldman Sachs ranked #1 in M&A advisor by announced volume for the 23rd consecutive year in 2025 per LSEG league tables, advising on $1.48 to $1.6 trillion in announced volumes and serving as advisor on 38 of the 68 announced mega-deals over $10 billion. JPMorgan ranked #1 in total Investment Banking fees at $10.1 billion per Dealogic for 2025.

What was Houlihan Lokey FY25 revenue?

Houlihan Lokey reported $2.39 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2025 (ended March 31, 2025), up 25 percent year over year. Net income reached $400 million ($5.82 per diluted share). Q4 alone produced $666 million of revenue, which represents 27.9 percent of full-year revenue concentrated in a single quarter.

What was Evercore FY25 revenue?

Evercore reported record total revenue of $3.880 billion for calendar 2025, up 29 percent year over year. Adjusted Advisory Fees rose $825.4 million (up 34 percent). Evercore ranked number three globally in Advisory revenues among public firms for the second consecutive year.

What was Lazard FY25 revenue?

Lazard reported calendar 2025 net revenue of $3.099 billion (adjusted $3.030 billion). Financial Advisory net revenue reached $1.834 billion, up 4 to 5 percent year over year. Revenue per Managing Director was $8.9 million. Lazard hired 21 MDs in 2025.

What was Centerview Partners 2024 revenue?

Centerview Partners is private and reported estimated 2024 revenue of $1.9 billion (up from $1.5 billion in 2023, a 27 percent growth rate) per Wall Street Journal estimates. Centerview was ranked number four in US M&A revenue in 2024 per the WSJ-Dealogic methodology with 5.35 percent of US M&A advisory fees. Wall Street Journal reporting in late 2025 confirmed the founders are exploring a potential IPO or stake sale at a reported $10 billion valuation.

What does the LSEG full-credit methodology mean?

LSEG credits every financial advisor named on a transaction with the full deal value, regardless of sole or co-advisor status. On the Capital One / Discover $35.3 billion transaction, Centerview, PJT Partners, and Morgan Stanley each received $35.3 billion of credit, producing $105.9 billion of aggregate credit on $35.3 billion of real-economy deal value. The methodology systematically inflates apparent advisor market share for second and third advisors on mega-deals.

What was the size of the largest 2024 to 2026 mega-deals?

Aligned Data Centers / BlackRock-MGX-GIP at $40 billion (October 15, 2025) is the largest data-center M&A deal ever announced. ExxonMobil / Pioneer Natural Resources at $59.5 billion (closed May 3, 2024) remains the largest energy deal. Chevron / Hess at $53 billion (announced October 2023, arbitration resolved July 2025) is the second-largest energy deal. Mars / Kellanova at $35.9 billion (closed December 11, 2025) and Capital One / Discover at $35.3 billion (closed April 2025) and Synopsys / Ansys at $35 billion (closed Q3 2025) are the next largest.

Who advised on the Walgreens take-private?

Walgreens Boots Alliance was advised by Centerview Partners (financial) and Morgan Stanley (fairness opinion to board), with legal counsel from Kirkland and Ellis and Ropes and Gray. Sycamore Partners was advised by UBS (lead financial), Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan (co-lead), and Citi and Wells Fargo (financial). Seven named financial advisors participated. The deal value was approximately $10 billion equity, total transaction value approximately $24 billion including debt.

What is the Lehman formula and how is it used?

The original 1970s Lehman Brothers formula was 5 percent on the first $1 million, 4 percent on the second $1 million, 3 percent on the third $1 million, 2 percent on the fourth $1 million, and 1 percent on the remainder. The modern Modified Lehman variant is 3/3/2/1/1. Many sub-$50 million LMM transactions use Double Lehman (10/8/6/4/2). Below $25 million enterprise value, advisors apply a minimum fee floor (typically $750,000 to $1.5 million).

How are buy-side advisor fees structured versus sell-side?

Buy-side success fees are structurally lower than sell-side: approximately 1.0 to 2.5 percent on transactions under $250 million EV, versus 2 to 6 percent on sell-side. Buy-side retainers are more substantial ($25K to $75K per month) because the buyer engages the advisor for ongoing strategic guidance over a multi-year mandate window. Many PE sponsors now use flat-fee buy-side advisor engagements: approximately $1 million per closed platform acquisition, $300K per closed add-on.

About the Author

CT Acquisitions publishes deal-mechanics research for sponsor-backed transactions in the US lower-middle market and middle market. The research desk verifies every numeric claim against primary-source SEC filings, court records, and named investor disclosures. The methodology privileges 10-K filings, earnings releases, SEC S-4 and DEFM14A filings, law firm press releases, and corporate IR announcements. Secondary citations to Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNBC are noted as such. The 2024 to 2026 league table replication exercise is the seventh in the cite-bait series, which has produced 73 published trackers as of June 26, 2026.

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Last updated: June 26, 2026.