The combination of Dutch insurance groups ASR Nederland NV and Aegon NV emerged as the biggest deal in Europe's financial sector in October, S&P Global Market Intelligence data showed.
ASR Nederland and Aegon are merging their pensions, insurance, banking and mortgage origination businesses in a €4.94 billion deal. Aegon stands to receive €2.5 billion in cash from the arrangement, as well as a 29.99% strategic holding in ASR Nederland.
Aegon will keep its headquarters in the Netherlands, but its business is poised to become more heavily weighted toward the U.S., CEO Lard Friese told analysts.
The deal appeared to be the lone bright spot in European financials M&A for the month in terms of size. Credit Suisse Group AG, the embattled Swiss bank, sold its 8.6% stake in Allfunds Group PLC for gross proceeds of €334.0 million in a sale seen as a means to raise funds for a radical restructuring.
French insurer Axa SA paid €310.0 million to buy Spain-based GACM España SA from Groupe des Assurances du Crédit Mutuel SA, while U.S.-based security company Brink's Co. took over U.K.-based ATM network provider NoteMachine UK Ltd. in a €182.5 million transaction.
Downward trend
European financials M&A in 2022 is set to be lower than the level reached in 2021, a record year for dealmaking, Market Intelligence data suggests. In the first 10 months of 2022, 783 deals were signed, versus 1,158 for all of 2021. Monthly deal volumes for 2022 have been down year over year, save for January.
Only 59 deals were reached in October, down from 68 in September and 105 a year ago.
Dealmaking across industries has slumped amid geopolitical tension, rapid inflation and rising interest rates, which make borrowing more expensive. Some global banks that serve as advisers on deals have also warned that the market is unlikely to recover in the succeeding months.
By geography, the U.K. remained the top home for companies involved in deals in October, seeing 21 deals that month. Meanwhile, the insurance sector recorded 20 deals in October, while the asset management sector saw 17. Six deals involved specialty finance companies, the same as the financial technology sector.
