Morgan Stanley has had its number one position in global M&A taken away at the eleventh hour after Xstrata’s hostile $48.3bn (€34.3bn) approach to Anglo-American was included in the half year league tables on a technicality, catapulting Goldman Sachs to the top of the rankings.

According to preliminary data from Dealogic, Goldman Sachs finished the half year ranked number one globally after working on 109 deals worth a combined $363.2bn. JP Morgan finished second, with $321.3bn from 126 deals and Morgan Stanley was pushed into third.