Goldman tops table as bonuses soar

GOLDMAN Sachs has retained its crown as king of the investment banks in mergers and acquisitions amid signs City financiers are on course for bumper bonuses this year and next.

The value of global M&A deals in 2004 surged 40% year-on-year to $1.935 trillion (£1 trillion), its highest in four years, according to the latest league tables from Thomson Financial.

Goldman maintained its near-30% share of the market with 336 deals worth $575bn, a staggering $166bn more than last year.

An elite band of City dealmakers are expected to see rises of up to 30% in their annual bonuses, worth up to £2m. Goldman and Lehman are understood to have paid out hefty bonuses earlier this month.

Lehman improved its annual deals table ranking from ninth to sixth after doubling its deals haul to $307bn.

JP Morgan bankers are on course for hefty bonus rises in February after the bank enjoyed the biggest increase in global market share, up to 26.3% from 15.5%. Its deals tally more than doubled to $509bn.

Rothschild saw the biggest gain in Europe, jumping from ninth to third there, after working on $215bn of deals compared with $79bn in 2003.

The surge in takeover activity this year has given banks a good start for the next 12 months as fees for many of those deals will be paid only once they complete in 2005.