Schroders has accepted a £9.9bn acquisition offer from US investment giant Nuveen, to create one of the world’s largest asset management groups.
This takeover will end more than 200 years of family ownership at the UK-based firm, and will see Schroders de-list from the London Stock Exchange.
Schroders is an active manager in the UK workplace pension market, particularly when it comes to offering private market solutions.
It runs a number of LTAFs and has set up Future Growth Capital with with Phoenix Group, specifically to help UK pension schemes meet Mansion House objectives.
Chicago-headquartered Nuveen’s has around $1.4tn in assets with Schroders’ AUM around £824bn, so following the acquisition Nuveen will have $2.5tn (£1.8tn) in assets.
Nuveen, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), a large US institutional investor.
Schroders’ London headquarters, which currently employs around 3,100 staff, will become the combined group’s non-US headquarters. The business will continue to operate under the Schroders name, according to a statement issued by both companies.
Founded in 1804 by Hamburg financier Johann Schröder, the company began as a London merchant bank, floating on the London Stock Exchange in1959 and divesting its investment banking division in 2000 to concentrate on asset management.
In recent years the company has faced mounting challenges. A sharp fall in its share price and intensifying competition from low-cost US rivals such as BlackRock and Vanguard have driven efforts to streamline operations.
Last year, Schroders unveiled a £150m cost-reduction programme aimed at improving performance.
As recently as July, chief executive Richard Oldfield dismissed suggestions that the Schroder family — which retains a 44 per cent stake — might consider selling. Under the terms of the deal, the family’s holding is valued at £4.4bn.
Since becoming CEO in November 2024, Oldfield has reshaped the business, ending a joint financial advice venture with Lloyds Banking Group and withdrawing from markets in Brazil and Indonesia.
He says: “The transaction will significantly accelerate our growth plans to create a leading public-to-private platform with enhanced geographic reach and a strengthened balance sheet.”
Nuveen CEO William Huffman adds: “This transaction is about unlocking new growth opportunities for wealth and institutional investors around the world by giving our leading, differentiated public-to-private platform a broader global presence”.
Nuveen’s offer values Schroders at 612p per share — a premium of 34 per cent to Wednesday’s closing price.
Shares in Schroders climbed 30 per cent to 592p on Thursday following the announcement. The transaction remains subject to shareholder approval and is anticipated to complete in the fourth quarter of 2026.
