By Quentin Webb
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - Xstrata's unwanted approach to rival miner Anglo American led to a late reordering of the world's top mergers advisers in the first half, restoring Anglo adviser Goldman Sachs to the No.1 spot above Morgan Stanley.
Deutsche Bank, Lazard, and UBS, who are also advising on the suggested stock-for-stock deal, also climbed in the final first-half league tables from Thomson Reuters, compared to preliminary data released last week.
The shifts highlight the impact a mandate on a single mega-deal can have on rankings in the prestigious mergers and acquisitions (M&A) tables -- and also the continued importance of mining deals to investment bankers.
Overall the final data showed announced M&A fell 40.2 percent, compared with the same period in 2008, to $941 billion, marking the slowest first half since 2004.
Thomson Reuters ranks Xstrata's proposal -- which Anglo says lacks "strategic merit" and has "totally unacceptable terms" -- as the first half's fourth-largest deal. It classifies it as a $42.5 billion "intended" deal.
That helped Goldman regain first place for announced mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advice, which it held in the first half of last year, as it worked on $343.1 billion of deals. Morgan Stanley, not an adviser on the deal, slipped to second by deal value with $331.1 billion of work.
Fellow Anglo adviser UBS rose to 8th from 9th in the preliminary data. Among Xstrata's advisers, JPMorgan remained in third place, Deutsche Bank gained two places to fourth, and Lazard rose one place to seventh.
If a deal is eventually struck despite Anglo's rebuff, it could yield further mandates in M&A and equity capital markets for Xstrata's advisers, even though as a stock-for-stock deal it would not require debt financing.
In a letter to Anglo, Xstrata said a combined group would "immediately be able to access equity markets to raise further capital" and could potentially sell non-core assets or seek joint-venture partners to raise extra liquidity.
Rio Tinto's long-running takeover tussle with BHP Billiton, and abortive link-up with China's Chinalco, involved a slew of banks. Seven of Rio's banks are now working on its $15 billion rights issue, for which Rio is paying about $430 million in fees. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)