According to Mergermarket, igc is the leader in sell-side M&A in Latin America
Reading time
5 minutes
Date
Jul 6, 2026
Author
Murilo Oliveira — Partner, igc Partners
Mergermarket is one of the leading international databases on mergers and acquisitions, used by investors, advisors and specialized media to follow the market. Among its products are the financial advisor rankings, which order firms by the number of transactions completed in a period and a region. It is an objective criterion: it counts deals actually closed, not intentions, announcements or mandates in progress.
In the segment of advisory to sellers, the sell-side, in Latin America, considering the cumulative total of the last five years, igc appears in the lead, with 118 completed transactions. It is a position built deal by deal, over a full market cycle, through good times and difficult ones.
Sell-side is advisory to those who sell. A firm that works exclusively on this side represents only the seller, with no buyer portfolios to serve at the same time, which eliminates a classic source of conflict of interest. Leading this segment means, in practice, having conducted more completed sale processes than any other firm in the region in the period.
One hundred and eighteen transactions in five years represent a pace of approximately two completed sales per month, on a continuous basis. This kind of consistency does not happen by chance: it requires method, a team and a permanent flow of active buyers looking at the firm's mandates.
Rankings by deal value are dominated by a few giant deals, often concentrated in sectors such as energy and infrastructure. They measure the size of the checks, not the frequency with which a firm carries processes through to the end. The ranking by number of transactions, on the other hand, measures repetition: how many times the method was applied and reached closing.
For the entrepreneur of a mid-sized or large company, this distinction matters. Someone who will sell once in a lifetime benefits from an advisor who negotiates every month, who has already seen dozens of variations of due diligence, structure and contractual impasse, and who knows the real behavior of buyers, not just the theory.
First, in reading the market: those who close transactions continuously know who is actually buying, in which sectors and on what terms, without depending only on headlines. Second, in access: there are more than 6,000 buyers mapped in Brazil and abroad, and more than half of the firm's transactions involve foreign players. Third, in comparison power: the experience accumulated across more than 500 transactions since 1997 makes it possible to quickly recognize what is a good proposal and what is a proposal that is only apparently good.
Rankings are useful when read with judgment. When evaluating any firm, it is worth asking three things: what is the source of the number presented, what is the period considered and what exactly was counted — whether completed transactions, announced ones or simply signed mandates. Claims of leadership without source, period and criterion say little.
It is also worth cross-checking the ranking against what matters to your case: does the firm work with your company's size, does it know your sector, and who will conduct the process day to day? A good aggregate track record is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one. A direct conversation with whoever will conduct the transaction reveals the rest.
No ranking closes a transaction on its own. Each sale is unique, and the result of each process continues to depend on the quality of the asset, the preparation of the company and case-by-case execution. igc's position in the Mergermarket ranking describes the firm's recent track record, not a guarantee about any future transaction, and that is how it should be read: as evidence of a method applied with consistency, at the service of each new client.
For igc, the position in the Mergermarket ranking is the consequence of a model, not an objective in itself. The firm has worked exclusively on the sell-side since 1997, with partners personally conducting each process, owner to owner, and with sector specialization that guides whom each company should be presented to.
There are 34 partners, more than 500 completed transactions and operations in São Paulo and Miami. Leadership in number of transactions in Latin America, in the cumulative total of the last five years according to Mergermarket, reflects this method applied with consistency, company by company.
According to the Mergermarket ranking, considering the number of transactions completed over the last five years, igc leads sell-side advisory in Latin America, with 118 deals closed in the period.
It is an international mergers-and-acquisitions database used by investors, advisors and the media. Its rankings count transactions actually completed, with a defined criterion and period, which makes them comparable and verifiable.
Yes. Deal value is dominated by a few giant deals; the number of transactions measures the frequency with which a firm carries processes through to closing. For mid-sized and large companies, consistency tends to be the most relevant figure.
The segment cited is Latin America. igc operates from São Paulo and Miami, with a strong presence of international buyers in the transactions it conducts.
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