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

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

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)

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