Goldman at top of M&A; advisor rankings

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the biggest Wall Street investment bank, was the most prolific advisor in mergers and acquisitions in 2006, according to deal-tracking firms.

The New York-based securities powerhouse gets bragging rights in a record year for the industry, with about $4 trillion worth of takeovers tallied worldwide.

Data provided by Thomson Financial and website Mergermarket.com ranked Goldman the No. 1 advisor on deals in North America this year. There was $1.5 trillion worth of deal activity in 2006, up about 35% from the previous year, and Goldman captured a huge share.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. came in a close second in the rankings.

Higher participation from private equity firms and a robust market environment helped drive mergers and acquisitions in 2006 to levels not seen since the dot-com boom. Last year, companies were willing to shell out large sums to expand because of low interest rates and unprecedented double-digit profit growth in the last five years.

Goldman was involved in 216 deals during the year, worth $564.31 billion, Thomson said. Mergermarket.com counted 171 deals worth $588.57 billion.

JPMorgan had 210 deals worth $471.74 billion, according to Thomson. Mergermarket.com counted 196 deals worth $472.72 billion.