Twenty-five Years of Mergers and Acquisitions in the European Banking Industry

During the last twenty-five years and as being observed worldwide, the European banking industry has undergone major changes mainly fuelled by a great wave mergers and acquisitions. This article reviews and analyses the reasons and consequences of the numerous transactions which occurred between 1990 and 2008. Over the last years and because of the financial and economic crisis, the number of operations decreased dramatically as well as their average amounts. For the years to come, transactions in Europe should remain modest and focused on the sale of non-strategic assets.