In this paper we investigate the effect of announcements of mergers and acquisitions on bank shareholder wealth. Despite the major impact of the phenomenon of mergers and acquisitions on the future of the European banking industry, there are currently few studies that investigated this area. This is largely due to the fact that it is a relatively recent phenomenon since it began to grow in 1997. Based on a sample of 97 European banks over the period 1997-2008, our study showed that the European banking mergers and acquisitions create value but all of this value created by the purchaser's bid is received by the shareholders of the target. These appear to be the main beneficiaries of mergers and acquisition. However, shareholders of acquiring banks, meanwhile, are not harmed by the operations of mergers and acquisitions initiated by their leaders.