London's FTSE 100 hits new peak as Schroders soars on buyout

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FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 down 0.2%

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Schroders (SHNWF) surges after Nuveen buyout announcement

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UK GDP ?growth stagnates at 0.1% in Q4

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Unilever (UL) warns ?of weak 2026 sales growth in US, Europe

Feb 12 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 touched a fresh peak ?on Thursday, with money manager Schroders (SHNWF) surging more than 30% after a ?takeover by U.S. firm Nuveen, while data showed Britain's economy ?barely grew in ?the final quarter of 2025.

Schroders' (SHNWF) shares jumped as much as 31% to their highest in more ?than four years after U.S. asset manager ?Nuveen agreed to buy the company for 9.9 billion pounds ($13.5 billion) in one of Europe's largest fund management deals.

It was the ?top gainer on the blue-chip FTSE ?100, which rose ?to an intraday record before easing slightly. The index was up 0.1% as of 1137 GMT. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index rose 0.2%.

In ?contrast to the broader gains, Unilever (UL) dipped 1.1% after warning that 2026 ?sales growth would likely hit the bottom of its forecast range after a slowdown in the U.S. and Europe.

British American Tobacco (BTI) dropped 2.3% after announcing job cuts and full-year results.

Broader macro signals were also in focus as the ?GDP ?release showed the economy grew just 0.1% in the fourth ?quarter, matching the previous quarter's pace and partly reflecting uncertainty in the run-up to ?finance minister Rachel Reeves' November budget.

Thursday's figures, which showed a sharp downward revision to monthly GDP and a near-3% drop in business investment driven by volatile transport outlays, underscored why investors see the Bank of England as more likely than not to cut rates again in March.

Among other movers, Morgan Sindall climbed 4.6% to top the mid-cap index ?after the construction firm forecast 2026 results ahead of estimates as its orderbook rose 17% entering the year.

Shares of pest-control firm Rentokil Initial (RTO) fell 4.2% as U.S. ?peer Rollins missed Wall Street estimates for ?fourth-quarter revenue and earnings. (Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in ?Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)