Consistency pays off for JP Morgan

Contact: Brenon Daly

Continuing its steady climb up the rankings, JP Morgan Securities emerged as the busiest adviser for US technology deals in 2009. The bank, which worked on three of the four largest transactions last year, moved up from third place on The 451 Group’s league table in 2008 after not even figuring into the top 10 in the previous year. Unlike many of its rivals that owe their standing to one or two key transactions in a specific sector, JP Morgan figured highly across a broad swath of the technology market.

It was that consistency – in a year plagued by inconsistency and uncertainty – that allowed the bank to slightly edge Goldman Sachs, which held onto second place for the second consecutive year. The aggregate value of the 11 deals that JP Morgan advised on last year totaled $23.9bn, just ahead of Goldman Sachs’ total of 15 transactions valued at $22.6bn. Rounding out the podium, Morgan Stanley stands as one of the only major banks that actually bumped up the number of deals and the total value of those transactions, year over year. Look for our full report, including leaders for a half-dozen specific sectors, in tonight’s MIS sendout.

451 Group League Table

Bank 2009 ranking 2008 ranking
JP Morgan 1 3
Goldman Sachs 2 2
Morgan Stanley 3 7
Bank of America Merrill Lynch 4 4
Citigroup 5 5

Source: The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase