NatWest Group has agreed to acquire UK wealth manager Evelyn Partners from owners Permira and minority investor Warburg Pincus for a £2.7 billion enterprise value, with the companies expecting to close the transaction in summer 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
Evelyn Partners oversees £69 billion of assets under management and administration and operates across financial planning, discretionary investment management, and its direct-to-consumer platform, Bestinvest. NatWest said the acquisition would combine Evelyn’s £69 billion of AUMA with the £59 billion AUMA of NatWest’s existing Private Banking and Wealth Management business, which includes Coutts, creating a combined franchise overseeing more than £127 billion of AUMA and total customer assets and liabilities of £188 billion.
NatWest framed the transaction as a capital-light expansion that increases the group’s fee income exposure and accelerates delivery of its strategy. The bank said the deal is expected to lift fee income by about 20% on a pro forma basis before revenue synergies, and it also announced a £750 million share buyback alongside the acquisition.
NatWest disclosed that Evelyn generated full-year 2025 EBITDA of £179 million, implying a 9.7x 2025 EV to EBITDA valuation multiple, including target run-rate cost synergies. NatWest expects annual run-rate cost synergies of about £100 million, equivalent to roughly 10% of the combined Private Banking and Wealth Management cost base, with costs to achieve of about £150 million. The transaction is expected to be accretive to NatWest’s growth and return on tangible equity in the first year of ownership, and NatWest said it expects the acquisition to deliver returns greater than those generated through a share buyback. The bank also said the deal will be funded from existing resources and is expected to reduce its CET1 ratio by about 130 basis points.
Permira highlighted its long-term build-up of the platform through combinations including Tilney, Towry, and Smith & Williamson, describing a step-change in scale during its ownership. Warburg Pincus, which became a minority investor in 2020, positioned the sale as a transition to a long-term strategic home.
Support: Financial advisers to the Evelyn Partners group include Evercore Partners International and Goldman Sachs International. Legal advisers to Permira and Warburg Pincus include Linklaters, with Macfarlanes advising the Evelyn Partners group. NatWest said Ardea Partners International and BofA Securities served as joint lead financial advisers, with UBS also acting as a financial adviser.
KEY QUOTES
“We are delighted to be joining NatWest Group which will be a great new home for Evelyn Partners. We each have a long-standing history of providing high quality wealth management services. 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.”
“NatWest has been deeply committed to the UK wealth management sector for many years with a sizeable presence through Coutts. Today’s announcement is a sign of its growth ambitions in a world where increasing financial complexity and fast-moving markets are driving the need for both expert advice and investment management. Like Evelyn Partners, NatWest has a similar client-centric culture, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead as part of the wider NatWest Private Banking and Wealth Management team.”
“As we look ahead to a new stage in our journey, we would also like to thank Permira and Warburg Pincus for their strong partnership over many years.“
Paul Geddes, Chief Executive Officer, Evelyn Partners
“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.”
“At a time when the benefits of saving and investing are increasingly part of the national conversation, we can help customers to make more of their money through a broader range of services, as well as helping to drive growth and investment across the economy.”
“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.”
“This represents a strategically and financially compelling use of capital, enhancing income diversification and strengthening returns in a high-growth segment, to deliver sustainable long-term value creation.”
Paul Thwaite, Chief Executive, NatWest Group
“When we invested in 2014, we believed UK wealth management would increasingly reward scale, advice-led models and institutional investment standards. Over more than a decade, Evelyn Partners has been built deliberately around that conviction. The investment exemplifies our approach to long-term value creation: patient ownership, close partnership with management and continuous investment in people, technology and platform capabilities. Today’s agreement with NatWest is a strong endorsement of the quality of the platform, the client proposition, Paul’s leadership and all the highly talented employees at Evelyn Partners.”
Chris Pell, Managing Director, Permira
“We are excited for Evelyn’s clients, employees and leadership as the business joins an exceptionally strong long-term home in the NatWest Group. This successful ownership transition reflects the outstanding effort of all stakeholders in establishing Evelyn as the preeminent UK wealth manager through the integration of multiple firms into a cohesive, well-performing institution.”
Peter Deming, Managing Director And Partner, Warburg Pincus
