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The top industrials investment banks are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley on large deals. In the mid-market, Houlihan Lokey, Mizuho and Rothschild are level with them on deal count, and Baird leads on industrial private equity exits. In LSEG’s 2025 count of global industrials deals under $5 billion, Houlihan Lokey and Goldman Sachs each advised on 71.
Industrials rankings split by deal size. If you are choosing a group to join or an adviser to hire, compare banks within the size band you will actually work in.
The table groups the leading banks by where they win industrials mandates.
| Bank | Type | Where it leads in industrials |
|---|---|---|
| Goldman Sachs | Bulge bracket | Megadeals and mid-market (71 deals under $5bn in 2025) |
| Morgan Stanley | Bulge bracket | Megadeals (Union Pacific, Baker Hughes) and 64 deals under $5bn |
| JPMorgan | Bulge bracket | Large-cap M&A and 64 deals under $5bn |
| Wells Fargo | Bulge bracket | Adviser on two of 2025’s largest industrials deals |
| BofA Securities and Citi | Bulge bracket | Single-adviser roles on rail and aerospace megadeals |
| Centerview Partners | Elite boutique | Top 10 by 2025 global M&A value ($542.3bn), co-adviser to Baker Hughes |
| Houlihan Lokey | Mid-market specialist | Joint highest count under $5bn (71 deals) |
| Rothschild and Mizuho | Independent and Japanese bank | 69 and 70 deals under $5bn |
| Baird | Mid-market specialist | First for industrial PE exits (Mergermarket Q1 2026), 20 sub-sector teams |
| Harris Williams | Mid-market specialist | Dedicated aerospace, defence and government services group |
A league table ranks advisers by the total value of the deals they advised on or by the number of deals. League tables generally credit every adviser on a deal with the deal’s full value.
Value rankings favour the few banks hired on the largest deals. A single megadeal can move a bank several places. Count rankings favour banks that run many smaller sales, often for private equity owners.
Houlihan Lokey publishes LSEG’s 2025 ranking of global industrials deals under $5 billion, which excludes accounting firms and brokers:
On LSEG’s count, seven deals separate first and sixth. In the mid-market, the specialist groups and the bulge brackets are close to level.
LSEG’s table leaves out accounting firms. In Mergermarket’s all-sector 2025 count, PwC (660 deals) and KPMG (525) advised on more deals than Goldman Sachs (515). Once you include the Big Four, they lead on volume.
Across all sectors, Mergermarket ranked Goldman Sachs first for 2025 M&A by value at $1.66 trillion, a 36.4% market share, with 40 megadeals. JPMorgan was second at $1.44 trillion and Morgan Stanley third at $1.17 trillion. Centerview Partners and Wells Fargo both broke into the top 10.
The adviser line-ups on 2025’s largest industrials deals show the same names:
| Deal (announced) | Value | Buyer’s advisers | Seller’s advisers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Pacific / Norfolk Southern (Jul 2025) | $85bn enterprise value | Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo | BofA Securities (exclusive) |
| Baker Hughes / Chart Industries (Jul 2025) | $13.6bn enterprise value | Goldman Sachs, Centerview, Morgan Stanley | Wells Fargo |
| Thoma Bravo / Boeing digital aviation assets (Apr 2025) | $10.55bn cash | None named (Kirkland & Ellis legal counsel) | Citi (exclusive) |
Bloomberg reported that nearly $100 billion of industrials deals announced on 29 July 2025 reshuffled the advisory rankings. Those deals were Union Pacific / Norfolk Southern and Baker Hughes / Chart, and Wells Fargo advised on both. For a bank outside the top three, two mandates in one day can lift its whole year in the value tables.
Norfolk Southern shareholders receive 1.0 Union Pacific share plus $88.82 in cash for each share. Based on Union Pacific’s unaffected close on 16 July 2025, that implies $320 per share, a 25% premium to Norfolk Southern’s 30-trading-day volume weighted average price. The advisers’ first job is to show what each part of that price is worth.
At announcement, 72% of the price was in stock. With a fixed 1.0 exchange ratio, that part moves with Union Pacific’s share price until closing. The seller’s adviser tests that exposure. The buyer’s adviser models the effect of the new shares on earnings per share. In an industrials group, you would build this analysis early on.
Below the megadeal tier, specialist banks match the bulge brackets on deal count. They organise by narrow sub-sector, so each team knows the buyers in its niche.
For more on this tier, see our list of the best middle market investment banks and the top lower middle market investment banks.
PwC puts US industrial manufacturing deal value at a record $173 billion for the year to its June 2026 outlook, up 28% from $135 billion in fiscal 2025. Deals above $5 billion made up 56% of that value, against 18% in fiscal 2024.
Four trends shape the mandates banks are pitching for:
Sponsor deals in industrials also need debt financing. Our ranking of the top leveraged finance banks covers the lenders on that side.
Use the table that matches the deals you want to work on. A value table shows who advises boards on the largest mergers. A count table, such as LSEG’s under-$5 billion ranking, shows who runs the most sales processes.
If you are recruiting, check three things for each bank:
If you are a seller choosing an adviser, ask for the bank’s recent deals in your sub-sector and size band. Then ask who on the team ran them. Our guide to the best investment banks for analysts compares training and exits across banks, and the top technology investment banks list shows how another sector’s ranking compares.
On value, Goldman Sachs. It led overall M&A value in 2025 at $1.66 trillion and advised Baker Hughes on its $13.6 billion purchase of Chart Industries. Houlihan Lokey and Goldman Sachs tied at 71 deals each in LSEG’s 2025 table of global industrials deals under $5 billion, and Houlihan Lokey lists itself first.
Yes. Industrials is one of the broadest coverage groups, with many sub-sectors, a steady flow of private equity sales and large corporate carve-outs. That gives you modelling practice on both buy-side and sell-side work, and the sponsor exposure helps when you recruit for private equity roles.
Houlihan Lokey’s group lists 14 sub-sectors, including aerospace, defence, building products, chemicals, packaging, industrial technology and specialty distribution. Baird splits its industrial practice into 20 sub-sector teams. Ask which sub-sector team you would join, since it shapes the companies and buyers you work with.
Baird ranked first for industrial private equity exits in Mergermarket’s Q1 2026 table. Houlihan Lokey tied for the most industrials deals under $5 billion in LSEG’s 2025 table. These banks run many sales of mid-sized companies built through add-on acquisitions in areas such as flow control, filtration and test and measurement.
The top industrials investment banks are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley on the largest deals, with Houlihan Lokey, Mizuho and Rothschild level with them on deal count below $5 billion and Baird first for industrial private equity exits. Pick the ranking that matches the deal size and sub-sector you want to work on, and judge each bank by its recent deals in that niche.
P.S. If you are reaching out to industrials bankers for a role or a mandate, the Investment Banking Contacts Database [Global] lists coverage teams by bank. Our Premium Resources include additional tools you might be interested in, and the Private Equity Bros newsletter brings you weekly finance updates and the latest financial reports.
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