Schroders has agreed a £9.9bn takeover by a US investor, ending two centuries of family ownership of the historic British asset management group.
Chicago-based Nuveen will buy the City firm, it said on Thursday, in a deal that will create one of the world’s biggest fund managers, controlling about $2.5tn (£1.8tn) of assets.
The takeover ends two centuries of independence for the group, which will keep London as its largest office with about 3,100 workers and retain its Schroders branding.
The deal would take yet another FTSE 100 company off the London Stock Exchange, adding to concerns about the UK market’s competitiveness. Companies including the food delivery firm Just Eat, the betting group Flutter and Europe’s biggest travel company, Tui, have delisted in recent years in favour of markets in the US and Europe.
Founded in 1804 by the Hamburg financier Johann Schröder, the company started life as a merchant bank in London. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1959 and sold off its investment banking arm in 2000 to focus on asset management.
The Anglo-German banking dynasty, now headed by the heiress Leonie Schroder, is estimated to have a net worth of £3.93bn, according to the Sunday Times rich list. She owns a 485-hectare (1,200-acre) Hampshire estate, Hurstbourne Park.
However, the investment company has been looking to cut costs in recent years after a plunge in its share price, prompting interest from potential buyers. Last year, Schroders announced a £150m cost-cutting drive in an effort to boost performance, after coming under pressure from US rivals such as BlackRock and Vanguard that have started offering cheaper investment products.
As recently as last July, Richard Oldfield, its chief executive, denied speculation that the billionaire Schroder family would be willing to sell the company in which they still had a 44% stake. The takeover values the family’s stake at £4.4bn.
Oldfield has done away with several parts of the business since taking the helm in November 2024, including cutting a joint-venture with Lloyds Banking Group offering mass-market financial advice, as well as pulling out of operations in Brazil and Indonesia.
“In a competitive landscape where scale can help deliver benefits, in Nuveen we see a partner that shares our values, respects the culture we have built and will create exciting opportunities for our clients and people,” Oldfield said.
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