Sector Trends – September 2025: Financial Market Infrastructure – UK & European Financial Services M&A: Sector Trends H2 2024 | H1 2025 | White & Case LLP
Mega private equity buy-outs shape Europe’s FMI landscape—KKR seeks to emulate Blackstone’s Refinitiv success through acquisition of OSTTRA.
Current market:
- Not high in volume, but makes up in value
We are seeing:
Eye-catching stock exchange acquisitions:
- Horizonal consolidation (e.g., Euronext’s voluntary share exchange offer for ATHEX)
- Regional influence (e.g., Euronext’s acquisition of Nasdaq Clearing Sweden’s and Nasdaq Oslo’s commodities exchange and clearing businesses)
- International expansion (e.g., MIH’s acquisition of TISE)
Financial sponsors drive M&A activity:
- Mega private equity buy & build strategies (e.g., KKR’s acquisition of OSTTRA)
- SWFs dip a toe into European FMI (e.g., GIC’s acquisition of 4.99% of Euroclear)
- International public sector investors (e.g., TCorp’s acquisition of 4.92% of Euroclear)
Euronext leads the charge on vertical integration:
- Research and market data (e.g., acquisitions of Global Rate Set Systems and Substantive Research)
- Financial reporting and cross-border tax relief (e.g., acquisition of Acupay)
- Transaction management (e.g., acquisition of Admincontrol)
Euroclear leads the charge on digital transformation:
- Investment technology solutions (e.g., acquisition of strategic stake in Inversis)
- DLT-powered financial market infrastructure (e.g., acquisition of strategic stake in Marketnode)
Key drivers / challenges:
Cashing out of liquid FMI stakes by:
- Banks: Société Générale’s and Citi’s disposals of 3.9% and 0.99% of Euroclear, respectively
- Stock exchanges: LSEG’s disposal of 4.92% of Euroclear and MOEX’s disposal of 13.1% of KASE
Availability of high-quality non-core businesses:
- Commodities exchanges and clearing (e.g., Nasdaq’s disposal of Nordic power futures business)
- OTC post-trade infrastructure (e.g., S&P’s and CME’s disposal of OSTTRA)
Digital asset players scale inorganically across:
- OTC trading (e.g., Zodia’s acquisition of Elwood)
- On-exchange trading (e.g., CoinDCX’s acquisition of BitOasis)
- Custody (e.g., Zodia’s acquisition of Tungsten Custody Solutions)
Trends to watch:
Euroclear’s July 2025 plans (to establish EU-wide post-trade infrastructure single market) to drive intra-EU acquisitions and JVs.
Differentiated regulatory approach to FMI:
- Increased scrutiny of established FMI (e.g., introduction of Bank of England’s “fundamental rules” for FMI operators)
- Support for new-age FMI (e.g., launch of UK’s Digital Securities Sandbox)
Middle East emerges as the region to watch for FMI expansion:
- Outbound (e.g., UAE-based Fundament Capital’s acquisition of 6.86% of MOEX)
- Inbound (e.g., UAE-based Tungsten Custody Solutions acquired by Zodia)
Our M&A forecast
Euronext and Euroclear have set feverish paces for inorganic vertical integration and digital transformation, respectively. In a vertical where international scale and product scope means everything, we expect intense competition between LSEG, Deutsche Börse, Nasdaq, Euronext and Euroclear for choice market data and post-trade solution targets to continue.
Financial Market Infrastructure – Publicly reported deals & situations
FMI horizontal expansion
Acquisitions:
- Miami International Holdings / MIH East Holdings: Stock exchange, Acquisition of The International Stock Exchange Group (March 2025)
- Euronext: Power derivatives trading, Acquisition of Nasdaq’s Nordic power futures business (January 2025)
- SIX Group: Stock exchange, Acquisition of Aquis Exchange(November 2024)
Partnerships:
- LCH: FX clearing, Expansion of ForexClear service JV with CMU OmniClear (June 2025)
- SimCorp: Risk analytics, Integration of SimCorp’s offering into Axioma Risk analytics (February 2025)
- Euronext: Collateral Management Services JV with Euroclear (February 2025)
- Boerse Stuttgart Digital: lCrypto infrastructure, Crypto infrastructure JV with Fenergo (November 2024)
- Euroclear: DLT, Tokenise gilts, gold and Eurobonds JV with Digital Asset and World Gold Council (October 2024)
FMI vertical integration
- Euronext: SaaS, Acquisition of Admincontrol (March 2025)
- SIX Group: Information services, Acquisition of Swiss Fund Data (January 2025)
- Euronext: Tax compliance, Acquisition of Acupay (October 2024)
- Euronext: AI research platform, Acquisition of Substantive Research (September 2024)
- London Stock Exchange Group: Post-trade processing platform, Acquisition of Veris (September 2024)
- Euronext: Benchmark administration, Acquisition of 75% of Global Rate Set Systems (June 2024)
FMI digital expansion
- Euroclear: SaaS, Acquisition of 49% of Inversis (October 2024)
- Euroclear: Digital market infrastructure, Acquisition of strategic stake in Marketnode (October 2024)
Mega private equity buy & build
- KKR: OTC post-trade infrastructure, Acquisition of Osttra (April 2025)
Cashing-out of “liquid” FMI stakes
Banks:
- Societe Generale: Belgium, Disposal of 3.9% of Euroclear (February 2025)
- Citi: Belgium, Disposal of 0.99% stake in Euroclear to GIC (February 2025)
- State Street: Russia, Disposal of 6.86% of Moscow Exchange (October 2024)
FMI Businesses:
- London Stock Exchange: Belgium, Disposal of 4.92% of Euroclear (December 2024)
- Moscow Exchange: Kazakhstan, Disposal of 13.1% of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (October 2024)
Foreigners dip a toe in
- GIC: Singapore, Acquisition of 4.99% of Euroclear (February 2025)
- TCorp: Australia, Acquisition of 4.92% of Euroclear (December 2024)
- Fundament Capital: UAE, Acquisition of 6.86% of Moscow Exchange (October 2024)
Inorganic growth of digital asset players
- Zodia Markets (Standard Chartered): Digital asset custody,Acquisition of Tungsten Custody Solutions (June 2025)
- CoinDCX: Crypto trading, Acquisition of BitOasis (July 2024)
- Zodia Markets (Standard Chartered): Digital asset OTC trading, Acquisition of Elwood Capital Management (July 2024)
Non-core exits
- S&P Global and CME Group: OTC post-trade infrastructure, Disposal of Osttra (April 2025)
- Nasdaq: Power derivatives trading, Disposal of Nordic power futures business (January 2025)
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