European financials M&A activity slumps in February amid Ukraine war

M&A activity in the European financials sector for February nearly halved month over month as Russia's invasion of Ukraine threw markets into turmoil.

A total of 52 transactions were announced during the month, down from 101 in January and a 42.2% drop from the 90 deals recorded in February 2021, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows. It was the weakest month for M&A activity in the sector since May 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic put the breaks on deal-making.

The largest deal by value in the month was U.K. retirement products provider Just Group PLC's sale of a portfolio of lifetime mortgages to insurer Rothesay Life PLC for €824.56 million.

This was followed by the €700 million acquisition of LIS Pay SpA by Italian digital payment services company PostePay SpA from IGT Lottery S.p.A.

Asset management joined insurance as the most active subsector, with 12 transactions in each. The insurance segment has typically been the busiest subsector for deal-making by some distance.

The U.K. remained the most active geography for deals, with 17 announced during the month. France had five deals, followed by Greece with four and Italy, Spain, Poland and Ireland with three transactions each.