In 2025, some of the world’s top investment banks demonstrated their leadership across diverse sectors, driving major deals that shaped global markets.
For 2025, some of the world’s most influential investment banks demonstrated their ability to adapt, innovate, and lead across diverse sectors. From major M&A to groundbreaking IPOs, these financial powerhouses have cemented their positions as industry leaders by executing high-profile deals that shaped global markets.
Financial Services
UBS
With a dedicated team of 150 specialists in the category, UBS delivered some of the year’s most closely watched finance deals. In the US, the Swiss powerhouse played a leading role in the $1.6 billion acquisition of Paramount Group by global alternative-asset manager Rithm Capital. In Europe, UBS served as financial adviser to Monte dei Paschi di Siena in connection with the voluntary public purchase and exchange offer for Mediobanca for over €16.5 billion (about $19 billion). UBS also advised financial services provider Baloise in its 17.8 billion Swiss franc (about $22 billion) merger of equals with Helvetia, one of the sector’s most important deals. UBS acted as an active bookrunner on the May IPO of Israel’s eToro retail trading platform, valued at $4.2 billion. The bank also acted as a joint bookrunner on Swedish fintech Klarna’s $1.4 billion IPO in September. —Thomas Monteiro
Healthcare
Rothschild & Co
With a specialized healthcare team of more than 100 advisory bankers in 20 offices globally, Rothschild secured several of the most complex and high-profile deals of 2025.
Balancing IPO and private-sale options, the London-based firm supported Sanofi’s disposal of French multinational pharmaceutical company Opella, valued at €16 billion. The bank also acted as joint lead adviser in the €10 billion sale of pharma company Stada Arzneimittel to investment firm CapVest—one of Europe’s largest leveraged buyouts of 2025. In Switzerland, Rothschild advised Swiss multinational medical-technology company Ypsomed on the carve-out and sale of its Diabetes Care division to TecMed for 420 million Swiss francs.
Beyond Europe, the bank supported healthcare deals in Asia and North America, including India’s landmark sale of a controlling stake in JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals to Torrent Pharmaceuticals for roughly $3 billion. —TM
Industrials/Chemicals
Barclays
2025 saw a surge in industrials and chemicals M&A activity, with major deals in the US and Europe reshaping the market. UK-based Barclays played a key advisory role, including on Berkshire Hathaway’s $9.7 billion acquisition of OxyChem, spun off from Occidental Petroleum..
Barclays also advised the buy side on the $13.4 billion acquisition of Nova Chemicals by a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and OMV, the year’s largest cross-border deal in the sector, which played a key role in strengthening global polyolefins production.
In industrial technology, Barclays advised CVC Capital Partners on its £2 billion ($2.5 billion) acquisition of Smiths Detection from Smiths Group, highlighting continued private-equity interest in high-tech industrial assets. —TM
Infrastructure Finance
Societe Generale
As global infrastructure investment accelerated in 2025, French giant Societe Generale played a central role in some of the year’s most significant infrastructure transactions. In the UK, Societe Generale acted as mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on £5.5 billion (about $7.3 billion) of financing for the Sizewell C nuclear power station, one of Europe’s most important new energy-infrastructure projects and a cornerstone of the country’s long-term energy-security strategy.
The bank was also a key arranger on nearly $1.1 billion in green financing for the Eastern Green Link 2 transmission project, a 505 km (about 314-mile) subsea electric cable connecting Scotland and England. The project will transport up to 2 GW of renewable electricity from coastal wind farms to southern demand centers, enough to power more than 2 million homes while strengthening the UK’s electricity grid. Digital infrastructure has also been an important pillar of Societe Generale’s franchise. The bank participated in €650 million financing for the development of a European hyperscale data-center platform backed by Iliad Group and InfraVia, to support the expansion of cloud computing and AI infrastructure. —TM
BMO Capital Markets
After reaching record highs in 2025, prices for base metals and critical minerals continue to be whipsawed as economic risks and uncertainty persist, with shifting tariffs and supply disruptions related to the conflict in Iran. Strong price appreciation contributed to increased capital-markets activity, with many companies opting to increase scale or sell noncore assets. BMO Capital Markets continues to help clients successfully navigate these complex markets with advisory mandates and capital-markets execution on the largest transactions.
Globally, BMO covered 21 transactions in 2025 valued at $38 billion. It is also the sector’s top bank in equity capital-markets underwriting. In one of the largest metals and mining transactions of the past 10 years, BMO advised the $50-billion merger of Teck Resources and Anglo American. With BMO’s dominant market position, it has cultivated many long-term relationships. One of these clients is Coeur Mining, which the firm advised on the acquisition of SilverCrest Metals with a total implied equity value of approximately $1.7 billion. BMO was also named adviser for Coeur Mining’s announced buy of New Gold, valued at about $7 billion. —David Sanders
Power/Energy
BTG Pactual
The global power and energy investment outlook remained robust in 2025, driven by rising infrastructure spending amid the rearranging of supply chains due to increased geopolitical tensions and continuously accelerating renewable energy transition projects. Against this backdrop, our best bank for the sector, Brazilian heavyweight BTG Pactual, took advantage of its region’s large-scale privatizations, transmission-asset sales, and growing private investment to notch a banner year.
Among the bank’s main deals of the year in the sector, BTG served as the exclusive financial adviser to Equatorial Energia on the 9.4 billion Brazilian-real (about $1.8 billion) sale of its electricity-transmission portfolio to Canada’s CDPQ, one of the year’s largest infrastructure transactions. BTG also advised Eletrobras on the 535 million-real sale of its stake in Eletronuclear to a subsidiary of J&F Investimentos, a strategic divestment aimed at streamlining the Brazilian utility’s portfolio. The firm was equally active in energy transition investments. BTG acted as exclusive financial adviser to Orizon on the 275 million-real sale of a minority stake to eB Capital, supporting expansion in the waste-to-energy sector. —TM
Real Estate Finance
DBS Bank
As one of the leading banks in the Asia-Pacific region, DBS has been recognized as a global leader in real estate finance. Southeast Asia’s largest bank notably issued 300 million Singapore dollars (about $235 million) in five-year noncallable green subordinate perpetual securities at 3.18%. This issuance is one of the largest corporate perpetual securities in Singapore dollars and has the lowest fixed rate in 2025. DBS also acted as one of the bookrunners/managers for the Hysan Development-related $750 million bond issuance.
Lastly, DBS issued multitranche 3.5 billion offshore yuan (about $508.5 million) senior unsecured green notes due in 2028, 2030, and 2035. This was the first 10-year offshore yuan public bond. —Lyndsey Zhang
Sports Finance
Guggenheim Securities
In 2025, Guggenheim was a key player in sports finance, advising on major franchise transactions and strategic deals. The firm facilitated CEO Mark Walter’s historic $10 billion acquisition of the Los Angeles Lakers; it was the highest valuation ever for a professional sports team.. Guggenheim also advised Major League Baseball on a $9 billion debt-restructuring deal with Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group), helping it emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The firm played a key role in Liberty Media’s €4.2 billion acquisition of Dorna Sports and published research suggesting the NFL’s media rights are undervalued. Additionally, Guggenheim developed structured credit solutions for sports teams, allowing them to leverage non-game day revenue streams.
UBS
In 2025, UBS played a central role in the tech dealmaking rebound, benefiting from increased capital inflows. The bank served as exclusive financial adviser to Veeco Instruments on its $4.4 billion merger with Axcelis Technologies, combining semiconductor equipment suppliers to meet growing demand in AI and data centers. UBS also led Fermi America’s $13.8 billion dual-listing IPO on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, marking the first such dual listing in over a century. In Europe, UBS was a joint bookrunner for the Swiss Marketplace Group’s €901.6 million IPO, one of the continent’s largest digital platform listings.