NatWest Group is closing in on a £2.5bn takeover of Evelyn Partners, the wealth management group, in what would be its biggest corporate takeover since its taxpayer bailout in 2008.
Sky News has learnt that NatWest, which returned to full private ownership last year, is this weekend in advanced talks to acquire Evelyn from its private equity backers.
NatWest is understood to have seen off competition from rival bidder Barclays in recent days, following a new round of offers submitted last week.
City sources said that NatWest was expected to pay between £2.5bn and £3bn to buy Evelyn, which offers a broad range of wealth management services to thousands of customers.
An announcement confirming the deal could come in the early part of next week.
Buying Evelyn, which was previously known as Tilney Smith & Williamson, will strengthen NatWest’s presence in one of the areas identified by Paul Thwaite, its chief executive, as a priority for the bank.
NatWest, which is expected to report strong full-year results at the end of next week, has embarked on a simplification drive since Mr Thwaite took over in 2023.
Analysts said that buying Evelyn would represent a logical strategic move for NatWest’s Coutts arm as well as its affluent customer segment.
Although it is a sizeable deal, a price of under £3bn is modest in the context of NatWest’s market capitalisation of almost £52bn.
Its shares have risen by close to 50% during the last year.
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Barclays was also keen to buy Evelyn, although it is said to have backed away from a deal after acknowledging the price that rival NatWest was prepared to pay for the business.
Royal Bank of Canada had been linked to a bid, although it was unclear whether it formally tabled an offer this week.
Evelyn had close to £65bn in assets under management as of last August, when it reported half-year results, making it a significant player in the sector in the UK.
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The auction of Evelyn comes amid a torrent of corporate activity in the wealth management sector.
Demographics and the drive to push Britons into longer-term saving, investment and financial planning have driven growth across large parts of the industry in recent years – a trend which is expected to continue.
Canaccord Genuity’s wealth arm is also on the block and could fetch a price of over £1bn.
Acquiring Evelyn will also trigger a return to NatWest for Evelyn’s chief executive, Paul Geddes, if he remains involved with the business.
Mr Geddes joined the then Royal Bank of Scotland before the financial crisis, running its insurance arm, which included brands such as Direct Line and Churchill.
He oversaw its spinoff from the high street lender, which at the time was under majority government ownership.
Evelyn is owned by the private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus, having merged their respective firms Tilney and Smith & Williamson in 2020.
Last year, Evelyn’s professional services arm was sold to the buyout firm Apax Partners.
The auction of the wealth management business is being handled by bankers at Evercore.
NatWest and Barclays both declined to comment, while Permira has been contacted for comment.
