Welcome to the 2018 H1 edition of our European Financial Services M&A trends report. This download reviews M&A activity to 30 June 2018 cross-sector, examining related drivers , and diving into European markets to give an EY perspective on the key trends of M&A in 2018.
The total value of M&A deals increased significantly to US$24b in H1 2018, mainly driven by an increase in large deals across all niches.
European banking consolidation continued to gain momentum, with a number of deals announced in H1 2018. These include the acquisition of Turkish bank Denizbank by Emirates NBD Bank (US$3.2b), and the acquisition of Virgin Money by CYBG in the UK (US$2.2b).
There were a number of cross-border transactions reported in the payments segment, including Worldline’s acquisition of SIX Payment Services in Switzerland for US$2.9b, and PayPal’s acquisition of iZettle in Sweden for US$2.2b.
Divestments of non-core assets continues to be a theme among the large European banks, with a number of transactions finalized in H1 2018.
There were a number of loan portfolio sales announced in H1 2018, including the sale of Bradford and Bingley’s UK-based loan portfolio to a consortium of buyers which included Barclays plc. Piraeus Bank sold a portfolio of non-performing loans (NPLs) with a gross book value of €1.45b to Bain Capital Credit. Allied Irish Banks also sold a €2.7b portfolio of non-performing property loans to a consortium of investors led by Cerberus Capital Management.
