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04 Feb 2025
European financial services M&A activity picked up in 2024, with deal volume reaching a nine-year high
Following a slow 2023, M&A deals in the European financial services industry picked up in 2024, with an 22% year-on-year increase in the number of deals, according to EY latest financial services M&A analysis. European banks, insurers and asset managers publicly disclosed 784 deals across the region in 2024 – the highest annual volume since 2015 – compared to 643 deals in 2023.
The total disclosed deal value also rose from €36.3bn in 2023 to €52.0bn in 2024 – with 10 deals above €1bn in value last year.
The lift in M&A activity in 2024 was most pronounced in H2, with 415 deals announced – the highest H2 volume since 2012 and a 58% year-on-year increase from 263 deals in H2 2023.
European financial services M&A activity reached its highest annual volume in almost a decade in 2024, as economic recovery across the region lifted market confidence and led to stronger dealmaking. Falling inflation and interest rates in Europe’s major economies over the second half of last year prompted an overall uplift in both deal volume and values across the sector.
Looking to the year ahead, M&A activity is expected to increase further as optimism – while still cautious – takes a firmer hold, private equity investment picks up, and the appetite for strategic transformation grows. However, both firms and investors must of course remain watchful of evolving global geopolitics and the macro-economic environment as they use M&A as a tool to accelerate growth in a competitive market.
Sector specific M&A activity across Europe’s financial markets
- The number of European banking deals rose from 195 in 2023 to 213 in 2024, but the total publicly disclosed deal value fell from €20.4bn in 2023 to €18.8bn in 2024.
- The number of European insurance deals increased from 241 in 2023 to 333 in 2024, and the total publicly disclosed deal value also rose from €9.8bn in 2023 to €13.2bn in 2024.
- The number of European wealth and asset management deals rose from 207 deals in 2023 to 238 in 2024, and the total publicly disclosed deal value more than tripled from €6.1bn in 2023 to €20bn in 2024.
The number of non-European firms acquiring European targets increased from 82 in 2023 to 109 in 2024, but the total disclosed deal value decreased from €7.5bn in 2023 to €5.6bn in
2024. European firms acquiring targets from other markets increased from 46 in 2023 to 64 in 2024, with total disclosed value rising from €2.9bn in 2023 to €4.7bn in 2024.
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