Key highlights from H2 2021 include the following:
High levels of M&A across the UK and Europe, notwithstanding uncertainty ignited by the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Europe's banks have emerged from COVID-19 turmoil resolute in their ambitions to shed non-core assets, consolidate regional strongholds and rigorously pursue digitalisation strategies
Europe has bucked the global trend of tightening private capital purse strings. While successful funding rounds rage on, fintechs with critical mass are deploying M&A strategies to consolidate horizontally and integrate vertically
With over 350 deals in the European AWM sector in 2021, M&A consolidation activity is hotter than it has ever been in the past 15 years. Conventional wisdom is now under the microscope—is bigger really better?
Investor appetite is at an all-time high—while VC investors back growing service providers, PE investors supercharge IPO glide paths and established banks refuse to abdicate market share
Europe's FMI goes digital—data analytics, capital markets solutions, RegTech and DLT-based tech acquisitions feed the steady stream of M&A activity
Marginal improvement in investor sentiment for high-quality brokers, particularly across online brokerage, crypto trading and carbon credit trading
BNPL steals the show—20 successful European BNPL provider funding rounds in the past 12 months, covering the full spectrum from Seed through to late-stage
Marginal uptick in M&A levels in the past 12 months, with property, automotive and revenue-based finance attracting the most investor interest
