Goldman Sachs tripled French headcount and is still going for "ambitious growth" in Paris
It hasn't been a great few months for French M&A activity. Data provider Dealogic says M&A revenues in France fell 46% year-on-year in the third quarter, driving a 29% decline in all investment banking revenues in the country.
Despite this, Céline Méchain, co-head of investment banking in the French speaking region, says on LinkedIn that Goldman is "pursuing an ambitious growth strategy" in France, and is hiring.
Goldman has already tripled Paris headcount in the past five years, says Méchain. Its ambitious growth strategy has also involved the addition of David Benichou from Morgan Stanley in July, to be Méchain's co-head. Benichou said he was excited about this.
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Dealogic says Goldman ranked only 10th for M&A in France in the first nine months of this year, behind even Houlihan Lokey. During the same period last year, it ranked 5th. Benichou was head of investment banking for France at Morgan Stanley and might be expected to improve matters. Morgan Stanley, however, ranked outside the top 10 for French M&A during the first nine months of 2026.
Méchain says Goldman's French growth plans involve major corporations and entrepreneurial and family-owned businesses. The firm is hiring "classic associates" in Paris to help support this.
Although Méchain says Goldman's French headcount has tripled since 2021, it's not clear how much of this growth occurred recently. Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon said in mid-2024 that the firm had tripled Paris headcount in the five previous years. Two year ago, the firm moved Dirk Lievens from London to Paris to run financial institutions group (FIG) M&A for Europe from the French capital, but Benichou excepted much of this year's hiring there seems to have been very junior.
Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
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