European Financial Services M&A Themes 2026: Scaling for the Future (EY)
Save
EYSummary
- 755 transactions were announced in European financial services in 2025, up 5.6% from 715 in 2024, the busiest year since 2012.p.6
- Disclosed deal value rose from $49.5 billion in 2024 to $135.9 billion in 2025, driven by 29 deals exceeding $1 billion.p.6
- Q1 2026 recorded $57.6 billion of deals, the highest quarterly deal value for five years.p.6
- Banking and capital markets M&A reached 216 announced transactions in 2025 (+18% YoY), with disclosed value of $68.1 billion.p.7
- Insurance deal value rose more than fourfold from $11.1 billion in 2024 to $49.2 billion in 2025, while deal volume eased from 309 to 297.p.9
- Wealth and asset management deal volume rose from 223 in 2024 to 242 in 2025, while disclosed value fell from $20.9 billion to $18.5 billion.p.12
- Inbound M&A by largely North American investors rose 11% in 2025 to 119 international deals, with value of nearly $47.9 billion.p.5
Key insights
- Inbound M&A into European financial services rose by 11% in 2025 compared with 2024, reaching 119 international deals, the highest level in the past decade.p.5
- The total value of inbound transactions rose eight-fold from 2024 to nearly $47.9 billion.p.5
- Europe saw 755 financial services transactions in 2025, up 5.6% from 715 in 2024.p.6
- Q1 2026 deal value of $57.6 billion included two deals above $10 billion.p.6
- European banking and capital markets saw its strongest M&A growth in a decade in 2025, with 13 transactions exceeding $1 billion.p.7
- Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's acquisition of Mediobanca for c.$19.8 billion was the largest banking deal announced in 2025.p.7
- Zurich Insurance Group's acquisition of Beazley plc for $10.9 billion drove Q1 2026 insurance deal value of $12.9 billion.p.9
- Baloise Holding's merger with Helvetia Holding for $10.8 billion was among the largest insurance deals of 2025.p.9
- Q1 2026 wealth and asset management recorded 75 transactions and $28.3 billion in disclosed deal value, helped by the $13.4 billion Schroders deal.p.12
Funders mentioned
Topics and entities
Summary and figures generated from the document and checked automatically: every number shown appears on the cited page. The full document is available from the publisher. Publishers can request removal.