NatWest Group has agreed to buy Evelyn Partners for £2.7bn from joint private equity owners Permira and Warburg Pincus.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to complete in the summer of 2026.
Permira originally invested in D2C platform Bestinvest in 2014 and through further acquisitions, notably Tilney, Towry and Smith & Williamson, created Evelyn Partners as a combined group. Under Permira’s majority ownership, assets under management increased from around £5bn to £69bn. Warburg Pincus became a minority investor in the company when Smith & Williamson was bought in 2020.
NatWest Group’s existing Private Banking and Wealth Management (PBWM) business, which includes Coutts, has £59bn in AUMA. Through the combined businesses NatWest will oversee more than £127bn of AUMA and total customer assets and liabilities of £188bn.
Paul Geddes, CEO of Evelyn Partners, said: “We are delighted to be joining NatWest Group, which will be a great new home for Evelyn Partners.
“Together, our shared vision is to be the UK’s leading private banking and wealth management business, providing unparalleled financial advice and investment management to our clients as well as a broader range of capabilities. We are hugely excited by the opportunity which this transaction presents, providing us with greater scale and resources, for the benefit of our clients and colleagues.”
Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest, added: “Bringing together these two leading businesses creates a unique opportunity to provide financial planning, savings and investment services to more families and people across the UK. We look forward to welcoming our new clients and working with our colleagues at Evelyn Partners to transform the service our 20 million customers across the group can expect from us.
“This transaction creates the UK’s leading private banking and wealth management business, delivering the scale and capabilities needed to succeed in a market with significant growth potential. It accelerates delivery of NatWest Group’s strategy and positions us to realise our longer-term ambitions.”
