Goldman Sachs takes junior advisory roles on major UK deals as rivals lead mandates

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Goldman Sachs UK deal roles

Highlights

Goldman Sachs assumed junior advisory roles on recent major UK deals for Segro (£12.6bn takeover), ITV, and Bridgepoint ($1.4bn acquisition), as Evercore and others led.
Despite leading the UK takeover advisory league table in 2024, Goldman has missed mandates on notable deals including Schroders' sale to Nuveen and GSK’s $10.6bn Nuvalent acquisition.
Competition intensifies as boutiques like Evercore, bolstered by its 2025 Robey Warshaw acquisition, increasingly secure lead roles on prominent UK transactions historically led by Goldman.

Recent UK mandates show shift in deal roles

As reported by Financial Times, Goldman Sachs has been named in junior advisory positions on three recent British deals involving Segro, ITV and Bridgepoint, rather than taking the lead roles it more commonly seeks.

People familiar with the matter say Goldman usually avoids junior mandates in UK deals because they often carry low or no fees and can dilute its standing as a preferred adviser to company boards. Even so, bankers often view any role on a large transaction as preferable to being excluded entirely, because league table credit depends on deal volume or value rather than disclosed fees.

On Segro's defence against a 12.6 billion pound takeover approach from U.S. rival Prologis, Evercore and Morgan Stanley were named joint lead financial advisers, while Goldman was later added as financial adviser. ITV also named Evercore and Morgan Stanley as lead advisers on the sale of its broadcasting business to Sky, with Goldman serving as financial adviser and joint corporate broker. Bridgepoint, meanwhile, selected Moelis as lead adviser on its 1.4 billion dollar acquisition of the real estate arm of U.S. investment firm Kayne Anderson, while Goldman took the title of capital markets adviser.

League table strength faces rising boutique pressure

Goldman remains the top adviser on UK takeovers this year, well ahead of Morgan Stanley and Rothschild, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The bank has also secured leading roles on other transactions, including Unilever's combination of its food business with U.S. spice and sauce maker McCormick, Intertek's planned sale to EQT and the takeover of Tate & Lyle.

Still, the bank has missed some mandates altogether, including the sale of Schroders to U.S. rival Nuveen, GSK's 10.6 billion dollar deal for biotech Nuvalent and Rio Tinto's failed merger with Glencore. Goldman, whose international business is co-led by London banker Anthony Gutman, is competing not only with long-time rivals such as Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase but also with boutiques including Evercore and Centerview.

Valeriya Vitkova, associate professor of finance at Bayes Business School in London, says it is unusual to see Goldman repeatedly ranked behind independent advisers or competitors on prominent UK board mandates because the bank has traditionally led the most important strategic assignments. Evercore's London position is also strengthening after its 2025 acquisition of Robey Warshaw, where veteran advisers Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw retain close relationships with chairs and chief executives at some of the UK's largest companies.

Thames Water’s mounting financial strain and rising nationalisation risk were the focus of our earlier coverage, as the utility warned of “material uncertainty” over its long-term future and flagged the need for fresh funding to keep operating into 2027. We noted that the situation could push the company toward special administration and intensify pressure on the incoming UK government, with public support for state ownership increasing the likelihood of intervention and broader sector reform.

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