Magic circle duo Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance have claimed the lead roles on a surprise deal which has seen the over 200-year-old Schroders agree to a takeover by US asset-manager Nuveen in a deal worth £9.9bn.
Slaughters is acting for the historic London asset manager, while Clifford Chance is advising Nuveen and its parent company TIAA.
Clifford Chance’s team is led by corporate partner Nicholas Rees, who is the firm’s relationship partner for Nuveen, which manages around $1.4trn public and private assets around the world. David Pudge and James Bole, both corporate partners at the firm, also have lead roles.
In addition, partners Simon Crown and Jennifer Storey are advising on financial regulatory and antitrust matters respectively.
The firm is also acting as counsel to Nuveen on the deal’s financing aspects, with a team led by London partners Nick Kinnersley and Richard Day as well as partners Thomas Critchley and Jason Ewart in New York.
On the other side, Slaughter and May’s team is led by senior partner Roland Turnill and a trio of corporate partners: James Cook, Richard Hilton, and Hemita Sumanasuriya.
The deal team is being supported by a range of partners on the following matters: Phil Linnard on incentives and employment, Nick Bonsall and David Shone on financial regulation, Lisa Wright and Jonathan Slade on competition, Charles Cameron on pensions, and Dominic Robertson on tax.
Slaughters has a history of advising Schroders, and in October last year the firm provided counsel as the asset manager brought Cazenove Capital back under its full control, a deal which both Cook and Hilton worked on. Cook also advised Schroders in 2022 as it embarked on a majority acquisition of Greencoat Capital for an enterprise value of £358m.
Similarly, Clifford Chance’s Rees has previously acted for Nuveen in its €540m joint venture with Global Student Accommodation in December 2024, and its acquisition of renewable energy specialist Glenmont Partners in 2021.
The recommended cash offer by Pantheon LLC, a new subsidiary of Nuveen, itself a retirement savings group, will create one of the world’s largest asset managers with almost $2.5trn of AUM.
Despite the new ownership, Nuveen has said that the Schroders identity will remain independent and that it is a ‘pre-eminent financial institution with a deep-rooted history and strong brand.’ London will also continue to remain Schroders’ largest office, Nuveen said.
The deal is expected to complete in the final quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
