League Table

A league table is a ranking of advisors and banks by the volume or number of transactions they have advised on. It shows who was particularly active in a specific market or period. Advisors often use strong rankings as proof of their experience. Such rankings are compiled by data providers who record published transactions and analyse them by region, sector, size segment and role in the process.

Methodology is decisive for interpretation: a ranking by deal value is dominated by a few large transactions, while a ranking by number of mandates shows activity in the mid-market. The two produce entirely different orders. Coverage also rests on published information: in the mid-market purchase prices are regularly undisclosed and many transactions are never reported, so completeness is limited and individual firms' reporting discipline influences the picture. The tables are therefore informative less as an objective measure of quality than as an indication of specialisation and market presence in a particular segment.

For a selling entrepreneur an advisor's ranking is a starting point for selection but does not replace the questions that actually matter: who will personally work on the mandate, what experience exists in the specific sector and size range, and what buyer relationships are available? Segmentation is decisive when using them for selection, because a top position in an overall table says little about experience in a particular size segment or sector. The information only becomes usable when filtered to exactly the segment the company sits in. It should also be borne in mind that a high number of completed deals does not necessarily indicate quality, since it can equally point to many parallel mandates with correspondingly less attention each.