It’s all about the people—M&A activity centres around acquiring sector expertise, client relationships and local market knowledge.
Current market:
- Sprinkling of eye-catching deals
We are seeing:
Trade consolidators acquire at all levels:
- Mergers (e.g., CIMD Intermoney & Beka)
- Mega acquisitions (e.g., DNB's acquisition of Carnegie)
- Strategic acquisitions (e.g., J. Safra Sarasin's acquisition of a majority stake in Saxo Bank)
- Bolt-on specialist capabilities (e.g., Stifel's acquisition of Bryan Garnier)
- Acqui-hires (e.g., Stifel's acquisition of 36 B. Riley employee advisors)
Appetite for equity investments into digital platforms from:
- Global market makers (e.g., Citadel Securities' investment in TransFicc)
- Established banks (e.g., Qatar Development Bank's investment in Wahed)
- Venture capital investors (e.g., Noteus Partners' investment in Scalable Capital)
- General public (e.g., eToro's Nasdaq IPO and Derayah's Tadawul IPO)
Strategic investments into digital platforms from:
- Private equity investors (e.g., TA Associates' investment in smartTrade)
- Scaled fintech (e.g., Softline's investment in Finup24)
Key drivers / challenges:
Banks ink:
- Opportunistic acquisitions to secure scale (e.g., BNP Paribas Securities Services' acquisition of HSBC Continental Europe's custody and depositary bank business)
- Complementary businesses to grow international footprint (e.g., J. Safria Sarasin's acquisition of a majority stake in Saxo Bank)
- Opportunities to (re-)expand into investment banking (e.g., Alpha Bank's acquisition of Axia Ventures)
- Delivery of enhanced product offerings (e.g., GKB's acquisition of BZ Bank)
- Partnerships to explore distribution opportunities (e.g., Swedbank's investment banking JV with SpareBank 1)
Availability of:
- Partnership capital for portfolio companies with promise (e.g., WestBridge's acquisition of a majority stake in Causeway Securities)
- Growth capital for digital providers (e.g., Savr, Wahed, Scalable Capital, smartTrade, and TransFicc have all raised funding in the last 12 months)
- Consolidation capital for regional brand names (e.g., National Bank of Bahrain's acquisition of 21.07% of SICO)
Trends to watch:
Market consolidation amongst online brokers:
- Driven by private capital constraints and higher cost of debt funding
- Early signs of M&A activity (e.g., Foconis' acquisition of MACD)
- Ever-increasing importance of AI in stock trading (e.g., Robinhood's acquisition of Pluto Capital)
Resurgence in appetite for crypto trading across the entire asset class:
- Investment platforms (e.g., Coinbase's acquisition of BUX Europe)
- Digital asset servicing (e.g., Request Finance's and Matrixport's respective acquisitions of Pay.so and Crypto Finance Asset Management)
- Data analytics (e.g., CoinDesk's acquisition of CCData)
Our M&A forecast
The broker dealer / financial advisory world is crowded, especially with the prevalence of online trading channels. Market consolidation across investment platforms (both traditional and digital asset classes) seems inevitable.
Brokers / Corporate Finance – Publicly reported deals & situations
High buyer / investor appetite
Deal highlight:
White & Case advised Hg and the other shareholders on TA Associates’ investment in French online trading platform smartTrade Technologies.
Private capital:
- Sofina, Notelus Partners, Balderton Capital, Tencent and HV Capital: Investment platform, Participation in €155 million funding round in Scalable Capital (June 2025)
- TA Associates: Trading platform, Equity investment in SmartTrade (April 2025)
- BlackFin Tech: Fixed income trading infrastructure, Participation in US$25 million Series B funding round in TransFicc (April 2025)
- Incore Invest: Investment platform, Equity investment in Savr (September 2024)
Developed fintech:
- Softline: Investment platform, Acquisition of 70% of Finup24 (November 2024)
Private equity:
- WestBridge: Structured financing, Acquisition of majority stake in Causeway Securities (October 2024)
Trade investors:
- Citadel Securities: Fixed income trading infrastructure, Participation in US$25 million Series B funding round in TransFicc (April 2025)
Strategic investors:
- Qatar Development Bank: Shariah-compliant investment platform, Equity investment in Wahed (November 2024)
- National Bank of Bahrain: Investment banking, Acquisition of additional 8.56% of SICO (August 2024)
Public market:
- eToro: Trading platform, Nasdaq IPO (May 2025)
- Derayah Financial Company: Investment platform, US$400 million Saudi Stock Exchange IPO (March 2025)
Market consolidation to achieve economies of scale & scope
Deal highlight:
White & Case advised Bryan, Garnier & Co., an independent investment bank specialising in the European technology and healthcare sectors, on its acquisition by Stifel Financial Corp.
Acquisitions:
- Stifel Financial Corp.: Investment banking, Acquisition of Bryan, Garnier & Co. (June 2025)
- BNP Paribas Securities Services: Custody services, Acquisition of HSBC Continental Europe's custody and depositary bank business (June 2025)
- Stifel Financial Corp.: Investment banking, Acquisition of B. Riley Employee Advisors (April 2025)
- Archax: Broker dealer, Acquisition of Globacap Private Markets (April 2025)
- Alpha Bank / Alpha Services and Holdings: Investment banking, Acquisition of Axia Ventures Group (March 2025)
- Bank J. Safra Sarasin: Investment banking, Acquisition of 69.71% of Saxo Bank (March 2025)
- oneZero: Data analytics, Acquisition of Autochartist (February 2025)
- Graubundner Kantonalbank: Investment banking, Acquisition of remaining 30% of BZ Bank (December 2024)
- EQUITA: Investment banking, Acquisition of 70% of Cap Advisory (December 2024)
- DNB: Investment banking, Acquisition of Carnegie (October 2024)
Mergers:
- CIMD Intermoney & Beka: Spain, Merger (June 2025)
Partnerships:
- Swedbank: Investment banking, JV with SpareBank 1 (March 2025)
Mounting online competition
- Scalable Capital: Investment platform, Successful €155 million funding round led by Sofina and Noteus Partners (June 2025)
- SmartTrade: Trading platform, Successful investment from TA Associates (April 2025)
- TransFicc: Fixed income trading infrastructure, Successful US$25 million Series B funding round led by Citadel Securities (April 2025)
- Wahed: Shariah-compliant investment platform, Successful equity investment from Qatar Development Bank (November 2024)
- Savr: Investment platform, Successful equity investment from Incore Invest (September 2024)
Download the PDF version here
Financial institutions M&A: Sector trends - September 2025 - Brokers / Corporate Finance (PDF)
