Acquisition financing in EMEA is on the mend after a slump in 2025 as strategic consolidation of companies continues across the sector, despite continuing challenges such as tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory complexity and valuation disparities.
The region lags behind the US market, where deal appetite has been strong for some time and banks remain keen to provide large bridge loans and funded term loans to support acquisitions.
“We’ve seen a real explosion in event-driven activity in the U.S. over the past six months. The U.S. tends to be six months ahead of Europe in that cycle, so we can expect more activity this year,” said one senior banker.
Tariffs had a stifling impact on M&A last year, reducing profit margins, disrupting supply chains, lowering valuations and stalling or canceling many deals.
“Last year’s ‘Liberation Day’ put people at a disadvantage in some strategic initiatives, which had a corresponding impact on acquisition financing,” the banker said.
While tariffs may have a negative impact on M&A activity, they may also promote strategic integration and encourage companies to acquire domestic companies to avoid import duties.
Tariffs remain in place as the U.S. transitions global interest rates to 10% following a Feb. 20 Supreme Court ruling, but there are increasing signs that banks and borrowers are beginning to accept continued volatility.
voluge tonic
The completion in late 2025 of the US$15.4 billion debt financing supporting Voluge Group International’s US$13.4 billion acquisition of North American polyethylene producer Nova Chemicals Inc. has raised expectations for a significant increase in deals in 2026.
The financing consists of a US$9.4 billion one-year bridge loan, a US$1.5 billion three-year term loan, a US$1.5 billion five-year term loan, and a US$3.0 billion five-year revolving credit facility.
Barclays, Citigroup, First Abu Dhabi Bank and UniCredit led the underwriting of the loan, and the facility was successfully syndicated to a further 26 banking groups, reflecting a strong appetite for event-driven transactions.
Several large-scale loans have already been made to help win big tickets in 2026.
Global asset manager Nuveen is backing its proposed £9.9bn cash takeover of London-listed Schroders with a £3.1bn delayed draw term loan.
The funding consists of a 364-day window of £800m, a two-year window of £800m and a three-year window of £1.5bn. BNP Paribas is the managing agent, sole lead arranger and sole bookrunner in connection with the financing.
The acquisition will also be funded by existing cash from Nuveen’s parent company, the American Teachers Insurance and Retirement Association.
The combined group will have approximately US$2.5 trillion in assets under management, balanced across institutional and high net worth channels.
The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Deutsche Börse is backing its €5.3 billion acquisition of Amsterdam-listed funds trading platform Allfunds with a €3.6 billion bridging loan from Barclays and BNP Paribas.
The acquisition combines Allfunds’ fund distribution platform with Clearstream Fund Services, strengthening the group’s position in the high-growth, fee-generating fund distribution market.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.
German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is lining up a bridge loan of up to $2.5 billion to support its approximately $4.2 billion acquisition of Israel’s Zim Integrated Shipping Services.
Bank of America is the sole underwriter of the financing. This bridge provides additional liquidity headroom for acquisitions to be financed from Hapag Lloyd’s cash reserves.
The merger with Jim will solidify Hapag-Lloyd’s position as the world’s fifth largest shipping company with a fleet of more than 400 vessels.
The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
crossing the border
Spanish water and renewable energy company Grupo Cox backed the acquisition of Iberdrola’s $4.2 billion assets in Mexico with $2.65 billion in acquisition funds.
The two-year bridging loan, agreed in January, will be provided by a syndicate of seven banks including Citigroup, Barclays, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Santander and Scotiabank.
Meanwhile, the syndicate closed on a US$2 billion loan supporting UK-based Harbor Energy’s US$3.2 billion acquisition of US-based LLOG Exploration Co., which closed on February 11.
The financing includes a US$1 billion one-year bridge loan with two six-month extension options and a US$1 billion three-year block term loan.
DNB and JPMorgan underwrote the financing as bookrunners, while Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, Lloyds Bank, Morgan Stanley, Natixis, Standard Chartered, SMBC and Wells Fargo acted as mandated lead arrangers.
Sabadell Bank, China Construction Bank, Macquarie Bank, Mizuho Bank and Royal Bank of Canada also participated.
US-based Worthington Steel arranged a bridge loan worth 1.603 billion euros in January to support its $2.4 billion acquisition of German metal fabrication company Kluckner.
The 364-day bridge financing will initially be provided by Wells Fargo and Citigroup. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
The pipeline continues to build.
Zurich Insurance plans to fund its proposed £8 billion takeover of British specialist insurance broker Beazley Group with existing cash, new debt facilities and a share issue.
The acquisition creates a global leader in specialty insurance with approximately $15 billion in gross written premiums.
French utility Engie is also preparing to borrow money to fund its £10.5bn takeover of UK Power Networks, while Dubai Aerospace Enterprises will use a combination of debt and equity to support its approximately US$7bn all-cash takeover of Macquarie Air Finance.
Source: IFR
