The boss of Schroders insisted ‘nostalgia is not a strategy’, as the 222-year-old firm agreed to a £9.9billion takeover by US rival Nuveen.
In a deal that has stunned the City, the FTSE 100 investment giant accepted the acquisition that will create a ‘global powerhouse’ with £1.8 trillion of assets under management.
Chief executive Richard Oldfield said it was a ‘good deal for shareholders’, retaining the Schroders brand and helping to preserve London’s status as a financial centre.
But it prompted dismay in the City at the end of an era for the blue-blooded institution – which has been listed in London since 1959 – as a proudly independent British firm.
The deal also represents perhaps the most prominent example of the exodus of companies from the UK stock market.
Oldfield said: ‘I think it is understandable that people feel sad about an organisation that’s been part of the City and its success for 220 years. But we’re not going anywhere. We’re doubling down on London.’
End of an era: FTSE 100 investment giant Schroders has succumbed to a £9.9bn takeover by US rival Nuveen
The UK capital will be the non-US headquarters for the combined business for at least five years.
Oldfield cited a recent speech by Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, saying: ‘Nostalgia is not a strategy.
‘What we actually have to do is to look forward about how we grow in this industry. So I know why people are wistful and maybe sad, but they shouldn’t be because there’s huge opportunity when you look out into the future.’
Schroders was founded in 1804 by Johann Heinrich Schroder and went on to become one of London’s leading merchant banks.
In 2000, it sold its investment banking arm to specialise in asset and wealth management.
The company’s founding family hold a 42 per cent stake in the firm and have agreed to the takeover.
Oldfield, who took over in November 2024 and has been attempting to cut costs and boost growth, has overseen a 47 per cent recovery in the share price prior to the announcement, and shares surged by a further 29 per cent, or 130.5p, to 587.5p, on the deal.
The City was taken by surprise after Oldfield, last July, sought to quash speculation that the Schroders family was looking to sell.
Yesterday, he said it had ‘never been up for sale’. The deal had been hatched after he and Nuveen chairman Bill Huffman met last year ‘in the normal course of business’. He added it was clear ‘we could create something special together’.
The deal is expected to complete by the end of this year.
Asked how Schroders’ global offices would be affected, Oldfield said there would be a process a year after completion ‘to understand how best we integrate these businesses’.
Rae Maile at Panmure Liberum said the broker had been ready to issue new commentary on Schroders and how quickly change had been delivered by Oldfield.
But he added: ‘Instead, Nuveen will take the spoils, offering 612p per share, only a touch ahead of where we might have been pitching a new target price in an independent world.
‘With the offer being recommended, the family has clearly decided to move on, but the rest of us will be poorer for it.’
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