Deutsche Boerse's 5.3 Billion Euro Allfunds Takeover Awaits Regulatory Approvals
Key Facts
Deutsche Boerse's acquisition of Allfunds, which the group values at about 5.3 billion euros, awaits the required regulatory approvals after securing shareholder backing, according to company statements. Deutsche Boerse entered into a binding acquisition agreement on 21 January 2026, according to its first-quarter business statement. Allfunds shareholders backed the scheme of arrangement and the associated special resolution, the two items put to the court meeting and general meeting concerning the transaction. The group said in its voting results announcement that support exceeded 99.9% of the value of votes cast at each meeting. On the regulatory front, Reuters reported that the acquisition also requires European Union approval under merger rules, alongside a foreign subsidies review.
According to the acquisition agreement announcement, the total announced consideration for Allfunds shareholders is 8.80 euros per share, comprising cash, Deutsche Boerse shares and a permitted dividend. That total includes a cash component of 6.00 euros for each Allfunds share, under the terms announced by the group. Shareholders will also receive Deutsche Boerse shares with a reference value of 2.60 euros per share, plus a permitted dividend of 0.20 euros. In its annual results presentation, Deutsche Boerse described the acquisition consideration as 70% cash and 30% of its own shares. The offer represents a premium of 32.5% to Allfunds' closing share price of 6.64 euros on 26 November 2025, the reference trading session before talks were announced. On financing the cash portion, the group confirmed in its regulatory acquisition announcement that it had "fully committed financing to cover the cash component of the acquisition consideration". The announced terms thus combine a cash payment to shareholders with consideration giving them shares in the acquiring group, alongside the permitted dividend.
Allfunds connects fund providers with distributors, with its network reaching more than 1,400 fund provider partners, according to the formal offer document issued by the two companies. The network also includes more than 900 distributors and spans 66 countries, according to the description in the document. The platform provides distributors with core services including dealing, custody, settlement and administration, according to Allfunds' description of its business on its investor page. The company offers these core services under a model that charges distributors no purchase fees, which it presents as the basis of its relationship with them. Distributors, in turn, pay fees for additional value-added services offered by the platform alongside the core services associated with fund transactions.
In its calculations for combining the businesses, Deutsche Boerse expects annual operating cost savings of about 60 million euros for the combined entity, according to its annual results presentation. It also expects annual capital expenditure savings of about 30 million euros once the targeted annual run rate is reached. The savings plan therefore covers both operating costs and capital expenditure, the two categories identified by the group in its financial presentation. On the transaction's closing timetable, the company made completion conditional on obtaining the required regulatory approvals in its shareholder approvals announcement. The group expects to complete the deal in the first half of 2027, according to the estimate in that announcement. It then aims to achieve about 50% of total targeted annual savings by the end of 2028, including both cost and capital expenditure savings, according to the regulatory acquisition announcement.