Quick answer:
European M&A has already topped $60 billion in the first ten days of February 2026. The surge is led by Nuveen’s £9.9 billion ($13.5bn) takeover of Schroders — the largest asset-management acquisition in EMEA history.
The deal ends 222 years of independence for Britain’s biggest standalone fund manager and creates a $2.5 trillion investment giant.
It’s not a one-off. It’s the clearest sign yet that European finance is entering its fastest consolidation phase since before the 2008 crisis.
The End of a 222-Year Dynasty
The Schroder family made its fortune financing transatlantic trade in the 1800s.
For more than two centuries, the firm survived wars, financial crashes, the collapse of merchant banking, and the rise of passive investing.
This week, it finally sold.
Nuveen — the investment arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) — is buying Schroders outright for 612p per share, including dividends, a 34% premium to the prior close. The family’s 42% stake, held through private trusts, goes with it.
Shares jumped nearly 30% at the open. By midday, Schroders topped the STOXX Europe 600 leaderboard.
When the dust settles, the combined firm will oversee $2.5 trillion in assets, including $414 billion in private markets. London remains the group’s non-US hub, CEO Richard Oldfield stays on, and the brand survives.
The independence does not.
Why This Was Inevitable
Mid-sized European asset managers are being squeezed from both ends.
On one side, passive giants like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Advisors crush fees to levels active managers can’t match.
On the other, institutions increasingly want private markets — infrastructure, private credit, real estate — businesses that demand scale and balance sheets most European firms simply don’t have.
Schroders felt the pressure.
Shares had dropped more than 30% over five years. Costs stayed high. Private-markets growth lagged rivals. Even after restructuring — and a 25% jump in operating profit to £756.6 million — the math didn’t change.
As one analyst bluntly put it: the standalone model wasn’t enough anymore.
Nuveen’s CEO Bill Huffman called the deal “transformational” and hinted more acquisitions are coming.
Translation: this is the start, not the finish.
The Numbers Behind the Frenzy
The broader data shows just how wide the consolidation wave has become:
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European banking M&A: $17.5bn → $73.5bn (quadrupled)
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Insurance deals: $11.1bn → $49.2bn
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Foreign buyers acquiring European firms: deal value $5.1bn → $47.9bn
Bloomberg reports that February alone has already crossed $60bn in announced transactions.
Consultancy Oliver Wyman estimates 1,500+ private-equity-backed European assets, worth roughly $760bn, could hit the market this year.
Meanwhile:
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European corporates hold €2.6 trillion in cash
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PE portfolios are aging
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Holding periods exceed six years
In short: too much capital, too many sellers, and strong US buyers ready to move.
It’s Not Just Finance
The surge extends far beyond asset management.
Sectors flagged by Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report — finance, defence, telecoms, and energy — are now leading the charge.
In defence, Czechoslovak Group’s €25bn Amsterdam IPO was oversubscribed 14 times, with demand reportedly exceeding $60bn.
In banking, regulators are warming to cross-border mergers. Erste Group Bank’s €7bn purchase of a 49% stake in Santander Bank Polska marked one of Central Europe’s biggest deals in years.
The pattern is consistent: scale wins.
The Sovereignty Dilemma
There’s an uncomfortable political undercurrent.
Another historic European financial institution just passed into American ownership.
That clashes with the EU’s ambition to create homegrown “European champions.”
Amin Rajan of CREATE-Research summed it up: the UK loses a national champion, even if the brand survives.
Across Europe, policymakers are now pushing Capital Markets Union reforms aimed at keeping savings invested locally rather than flowing to Wall Street.
Whether that’s enough to slow the current wave remains unclear.
What Happens Next
Advisers say pipelines are the strongest in years.
Baker McKenzie calls activity “exceptionally robust.” Barclays describes a “conviction cycle” defined by fewer but much larger deals.
Defence, tech, and financial services are expected to dominate.
For European companies, the message is blunt:
Get bigger — or get bought.
The era of the comfortable, mid-sized European champion is fading. The next generation of winners will be built at continental scale — or absorbed by those who already are.
