Goldman Sachs leads Middle East and Africa M&A adviser rankings in H1 2026, handling deals worth $34.8 billion

Goldman Sachs has topped a Middle East and Africa (MEA) mergers and acquisitions adviser ranking for the first half of 2026, according to a market report published by Private Banker International.

The ranking attributes three adviser roles to Goldman Sachs in the period, with the combined value of the transactions at $34.8 billion. MEA refers to deal-making activity across the Middle East and the African continent.

The report places the bank at the top of the adviser table, suggesting its cross-border capital markets and advisory capabilities were particularly in demand across the region during the first half of the year. In M&A rankings, banks are typically scored based on the number of deals and, in many tables, the total disclosed transaction value, reflecting both deal volume and the size of engagements.

Goldman Sachs is publicly traded in the United States under the ticker GS (NYSE: GS). The bank routinely participates in regional advisory work connected to corporate restructuring, asset sales, and private-company transactions where deal financing and valuation work are central to execution.

While Goldman Sachs is an established participant in large international transactions, the report does not provide additional detail in the information available here, such as which specific sectors drove the $34.8 billion total, the buyer-seller mix, or the geographic distribution across the Middle East versus Africa.

The market context matters because MEA M&A has been shaped in recent years by energy and commodity cycles, sovereign and semi-sovereign activity, and changing capital availability across regional markets. Adviser rankings are often used by deal participants to gauge where investment banking resources and sector expertise are converging.

What remains unclear from the published ranking information is whether Goldman Sachs led by number of deals, by aggregate value, or by a weighted scoring system, because only the bank’s headline totals are available here. The report information also does not indicate whether the transactions were announced or completed within the half-year window, nor does it name the specific counterparties. Those gaps limit how far the ranking can be interpreted beyond overall performance in the adviser table.

For dealmakers, the immediate watch point is whether Goldman Sachs can sustain the same level of activity into the second half of 2026, and whether the ranking shifts as regional capital markets conditions evolve. The next set of adviser tables should provide a clearer view of whether this top position reflects one-off large transactions or broader momentum across the year.