Morgan Stanley and Diligent Capital ranked as the leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the retail sector during the first half of 2026 (H1 2026), by value and volume respectively, according to a league table from data analytics company GlobalData.
The latest financial advisers league table ranks advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised.
Using its financial deals database, GlobalData, the parent of Retail Insight Network, said Morgan Stanley took the top spot by value after advising on deals worth $2.2bn.
Diligent Capital led by volume, having advised on nine deals.
The UK-based company’s deals database showed Goldman Sachs placed second by value with $1.5bn worth of deals advised, followed by Rothschild & Co with $1.4bn, Daiwa Securities Group with $1.4bn, and Nomura with $1.2bn.
By volume, Performance Brokerage Services ranked second with seven deals.
Houlihan Lokey and Haig Partners followed, each advising on four deals.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Diligent Capital did not feature among the top ten by volume in H1 2025 but led by this metric in H1 2026. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley’s ranking by value improved from second position in H1 2025 to the top position in H1 2026.
“Two of the three deals advised by Morgan Stanley in H1 2026 were billion-dollar deals* and involvement in these deals helped it secure the top spot by value. It also held the seventh position by volume during H1 2026.”
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available in the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness of the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
*Deals valued more than or equal to $1bn.
