Few big deals shape M&A adviser rankings in 2008 | Reuters

"A particularly tough year for mergers and acquisitions upset investment bank rankings as the top M&A advisers chased just a handful of megadeals.
Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which had held the No. 2 spot behind Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) since 2005, slipped to No. 5 in worldwide M&A advisory work in terms of the dollar volume of deals, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
It was a tumultuous year for the last surviving Wall Street investment banks after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK) went bankrupt and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) acquired Bear Stearns Cos in a government-assisted fire sale.
Both Goldman and Morgan Stanley converted into bank holding companies, allowing them to make use of various forms of U.S. government support.
Goldman retained its top spot globally, while JPMorgan along with Citigroup Inc (C.N) climbed one place each from a year ago to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. UBS AG (UBSN.VX) came fourth, up two spots from last year.
Goldman also topped the U.S. rankings. But JPMorgan grabbed the top spot in Europe for the first time, taking over from Morgan Stanley, which ended at No. 7 there, the data showed.
While league tables do not tell the whole story, the shake-up points to the upheaval wreaked by the global credit crisis. It also showed how large deals can make a big difference in a tough year and bring strategy and brand into focus.
Morgan Stanley missed out on the year's largest transaction -- the $113 billion spinoff of Philip Morris International (PM.N). It also did not get league table credit for the second-largest -- Belgian brewer InBev's $60.4 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch Cos -- although it represented Anheuser-Busch's partner Grupo Modelo (GMODELOC.MX). Both deals hurt the bank's standing in the league tables, experts said.
The bank hit a nadir in the first quarter, when the Philip Morris deal was announced, slipping to No. 9 globally with a market share of just 10.8 percent.
Goldman, JPMorgan and Citi advised on both those deals, while UBS was an adviser on the Anheuser-Busch deal."