CITI has retained the top position in the latest mergers and acquisitions, M&A, league table of the top 10 financial advisers for the oil & gas sector based on deal value for the first quarter, Q1, 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The American multinational investment bank topped the rankings with a deal value of US$81.1bn, by advising on eight deals during the quarter, which incidentally was the highest in terms of volume (a figure shared by two others). HSBC was a close second with US$80.7bn earned on the strength of just three deals.

According to GlobalData, which tracks all M&A, private equity/venture capital and asset transaction activity around the world to compile the league table, Morgan Stanley took third place with six deals worth a total of US$80.6bn.

Praveen Karnati, Financial Deals Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Citi retained its top position mainly by advising Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) in its 70% stake sale to Saudi Aramco for approximately US$73.9bn.”

The oil & gas sector saw an increase in deal value by over 45.9% from US$109.6bn in Q1 2018 to US$159.97bn in Q1 2019. However, deal volume declined by 14.7% from 654 in Q1 2018 to 558 in Q1 2019.

Sixth-placed JP Morgan topped the global league table of top 20 M&A financial advisers released by GlobalData recently. A somewhat similar leap was made by fifth-placed Goldman Sachs, which jumped to second place in the global top 20 list.

Vinson & Elkins led the top 10 legal advisers table for Q1 2019 with a total deal value of US$8.0bn. Second ranked Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton showed a total deal value of US$6.8bn on the strength of just two deals – the least in the top 10 list. Latham & Watkins came in a close third with US$6.7bn although it took six deals to get there.

Top 10 leader Vinson & Elkins was conspicuous by its absence in the global league table of top 20 M&A legal advisers released by GlobalData recently. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, however, managed tenth position in the global list.

– May 15, 2019 @ 13:49 GMT |