Goldman Sachs was the leading financial adviser globally for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2019 in the automotive sector, according to GlobalData.

The American investment bank advised on eight deals worth a total $11.9bn.

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GlobalData has published a top ten league table of financial advisers ranked according to the value of announced M&A deals globally. If the value remains the same for multiple advisers, deal volume is given weightage.

JP Morgan trailed Goldman Sachs with three deals worth $9.0bn. With six deals valued at $8.7bn, Lazard stood at third position.

GlobalData financial deals analyst Ravi Tokala said: "The slow trend in M&A activities in the automotive sector continued in Q1-Q3 2019, witnessing a major drop in overall deal value as compared with the same period last year. However, Goldman Sachs was able to cross US$10bn mark, in deal value terms, due to its involvement in two big-ticket deals ZF Friedrichshafen's acquisition of Wabco Holdings and Investment Global's acquisition of 5% stake in Daimler."

The automotive sector witnessed a 26.04% drop in deal value from $40.72bn in Q1-Q3 2018 to $30.12bn in Q1-Q3 2019. Deal volume, however, surged by 47.87% from 282 to 417.

Goldman Sachs, which topped the automotive league table of M&A financial advisers, also ranked first in GlobalData's recently released global league table of top 20 M&A financial advisers.

Law firm Latham & Watkins led the chart of top 10 legal advisers in Q1-Q3 2019. Although Latham & Watkins and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised on deals worth $7.7bn, the former gained an edge in terms of volume.

Latham & Watkins provided legal services to four deals while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton worked on two deals. Third position was occupied by Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom having advised on two deals each worth $7.4bn.

In the global league table of top M&A 20 legal advisers, Latham & Watkins was at eighth position.

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