FGS Leads M&A Advisory Table Again Joele Frank Tops For Activism Defense

• For the fourth consecutive year, KKR-backed FGS Global has topped the global ranking of PR advisors in the mergers and acquisitions arena
• Prosek Partners held on to second place in volume terms, while Havas-owned H/advisors leapfrogged into third place
• FGS was the leader in the European ranking, finishing ahead of H/advisors in terms of deal volume, but Brunswick was tops in the UK
• In the Asia-Pacific region, Australian firms Sodali & Co and GRACosway turned in strong performance
• Joele Frank once again led Bloomberg's league table of PR and IR advisors helping companies deal with corporate activism

NEW YORK-For the fourth consecutive year, KKR-backed FGS Global has topped the global ranking of PR advisors in the mergers and acquisitions arena, topping the lists compiled by mergermarket in both volume of deals (527) and the value of those deals ($1.15 billion).

FGS has now topped the rankings every year since it was created by the merger of corporate and financial specialists Finsbury, Glover Park, Hering Schuppener and Sard Verbinnen.

Despite a widely reported slow start to the year in the overall M&A market, FGS saw the volume of deals it managed increase by more than 60 (up from 459 last year ) and the vale of those deals increased by more than 70% ($701 billion last year).

Meanwhile, Bloomberg has released its ranking of corporate activism advisors, with Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher holding on to its top spot in advising companies of activist defense.

Prosek Second in Volume; Joele Frank Second in Value

The top five firms in the global M&A volume ranking were the same as last year, although their placing on the list changed: Prosek Partners held on to second place, with 374 deals); Havas-owned H/advisors leapfrogged into third place (308); Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher climbed to fourth (256); and Brunswick Group declined to fifth (220, with its deal volume down by 70 on the prevuous year).

Other strong performers included ICR (up from 10^th to 6^th), Edelmam (up from 14^th to 10^th and the only full-service firm in the upper echelons of the ranking), and the UK's Headland Consultancy (up from 16^th to 13^th).

In terms of deal value, Joele Frank jumped into second place, ahead of Brunswick, with ICR and Prosek rounding out the top five. Edelman was up from 14^th to 8^th.

FGS Leads in EMEA Too, Brunswick Stays Strong in UK

FGS was the leader in the European ranking, finishing ahead of H/advisors in terms of deal volume, with Brunswick, Prosek, and FTI Consulting completing the top five. In terms of deal value, Brunswick and H/adcisors traded place, and finished ahead of Joele Frank and ICR.

But Brunswick held on to the number one spot in its headquarters market, the UK, leading in both value and volume of deals. FGS was second in the volume table, ahead of FTI, H/advisors and Prosek; the remainder of the top five in value consisted of FGS, H, ICR and FTI.

Brunswick led in Ireland in terms of deal value, but local firm Drury Communications was first in volume.

In Germany, FGS led the volume table ahead of last year's number one IWK, while in deal value it was first ahead of Brunswick. In France, H was tops in both volume and value, ahead of Taddeo in the former, and Brunswick in the latter. In Spain, Kreab topped the deal count ranking with Brunswick leading in value. In Italy, Excellera Group agencies Barabino and Community were number one and two respectively in deal volume, while FGS led the value table. FGS led the Nordics in volume, while Brunswick was tops in value,

In the Middle East & Africa, Teneo worked more deals than any other firm, ahead of FGS and Edelman, while FGS edged out Teneo in the value rankings, with Edelman again rounding out the top three.

FGS Atop of the Americas Rankings

In the Americas, the top five in volume terms had a familiar feel, with FGS finishing ahead of Prosek, Joele Frank, H and ICR. On the value side of the ledger, it was FGS ahead of Joele Frank, Brunswick, Prosek and ICR.

Not surprisingly, given the size of the market, the US rankings were an identical replica of those for the region as a whole. In Canada, FGS beat out Brunswick and H in terms of volume, and led Brunswick and Teneo in terms of value.

H/advisors led the (relatively quiet) Latin America region in terms of volume, ahead of FTI. It was also number one in Value, ahead of Plead Agency.

Local Firms Flourish in APAC

The Asia-Pacific region remains a place were indigenous agencies compete fiercely with the largest global players. So while FGS was number one in terms of deal volume, Australia's Sodali & Co was second (even if its global ambitions remain largely aspirational) and GRACosway in third. In terms of value, it was Brunswick ahead of FGS and Everbloom Investment Consulting.

Those regional rankings exclude the Japanese market, where FGS was number one in volume, ahead of Kekst CNC and FTI, while it topped the value table ahead of Jeele Frank and Kekst.

In Australia, Sodali was number one in volume, with GRACosway and FGS rounding out the top three. In value terms, GRACsway led the way, with Sodali and FTI following up.

FGS led Greater China in volume, with Brunsick tops in value and Evergreen in second spot on both lists.

Joele Frank Again Tops in Activism Advisory

Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher once again led Bloomberg's league table of PR and IR advisors helping companies deal with corporate activism, handling 80 such defenses globally, 78 of them in the US. The company's work included high-profile engagements for Medtronic and Equinix.

The number of activist attacks in other regions is considerably smaller, but FTI Consulting led in Europe (seven defenses), FGS was tops in Canada (six), and Kekst CNC was number one in Asia-Pacific (five).

On the global league table, Joele Frank 80 defenses were more than twice aa many as any other firm, with FGS is second place (31), ahead of Collected Strategies (20), Brunsw8ck (19), and ICR (18).

Many corporate advisors do not work on the other side of the aisle supporting activist, and so the league table of activist advisors looks quite different, with Longacre Square Partners in the number one spot, ahead of Gasthalter & Co, H/advisors, Prosek, and Gagnier Communications.

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