Savile Row in London. Avenue Montaigne in Paris. Via Condotti in Rome. Europe has long been known for its designer labels and fine tailoring. Now bankers on the continent are having to take the same bespoke approach to their sellside mergers and acquisitions processes as they do to their suits.

The continent on which they operate is decidedly out of fashion. European targeted M&A volumes for the year to May 7 stand at $226.8bn, down 5.5% from the same period the year before and the lowest since 2010. The number of deals, at 3,274, is the lowest since 1999.