NatWest Group plc (LON:NWG) has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Evelyn Partners from funds advised by Permira and Warburg Pincus for £2.7 billion enterprise value. The Transaction creates the UK’s leading Private Banking and Wealth Management business (PBWM), transforming NatWest Group’s savings and investment offering for its 20 million customers. It accelerates delivery of NatWest Group’s strategy, further diversifying income by increasing fee income by c.20% pre-revenue synergies. It also increases NatWest Group’s exposure to a high growth, capital light segment, with PBWM becoming c.20% of group customer assets and liabilities. NatWest Group is also announcing a share buyback of £750 million, continuing its strong track record of capital return to shareholders.
Commenting on the acquisition, Paul Thwaite, Chief Executive of NatWest Group, said:
“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 services 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 Geddes, Chief Executive of Evelyn Partners, added:
“Evelyn Partners is a leading UK wealth manager with more than 180 years of heritage. We are proud to have grown to £69 billion of assets under management, under the stewardship of Permira, investors in the business since 2014, and Warburg Pincus, a minority investor since 2020.
We are delighted to join NatWest Group, which marks an exciting new chapter for Evelyn Partners. We both have a long-standing history as highly regarded wealth managers with a client-centric culture.
Together, we have the scale, resources, and shared vision to provide unparalleled service to our clients. We look forward to working together to build on our success and drive future growth.”
Evelyn Partners is a leading UK wealth manager with more than 180 years of heritage overseeing £69 billion of Assets Under Management and Administration (“AUMA”). Evelyn Partners offers an integrated wealth management proposition spanning financial planning, discretionary investment management and its direct-to-consumer platform BestInvest.
Evelyn Partners is led by a high-calibre management team with a proven track record of delivery, demonstrated by a compound annual growth rate in AUMA in excess of 7%. Its fully integrated model, combining approximately 270 financial planners and 325 investment managers, supports deep client relationships and superior client outcomes.
Evelyn Partners generated full year 2025 EBITDA of £179m, meaning that the transaction values Evelyn Partners at the equivalent of 9.7x 2025 EV to EBITDA multiple, including target run-rate cost synergies.
The Transaction brings together two established institutions with a shared commitment to supporting clients at every stage of their lives, under the leadership of Emma Crystal, Chief Executive PBWM.
By combining Evelyn Partners’ £69 billion of AUMA with NatWest Group’s £59 billion brings total AUMA to £127 billion and total Customer Assets and Liabilities to £188 billion.
NatWest Group expects the combination of Evelyn Partners with its existing PBWM business to create material shareholder value, including estimated annual run-rate cost synergies of c.£100 million, equivalent to around 10% of the combined PBWM cost base, with costs to achieve of c.£150 million.
NatWest Group also intends to deliver significant revenue synergies through bringing Evelyn Partners’ leading financial planning and investment management solutions together with NatWest Group’s full suite of banking and wealth management solutions to our 20 million customers.
The Transaction is expected to be accretive to NatWest Group’s growth and its Return on Tangible Equity in the first year of ownership and to deliver returns greater than generated through a share buyback.
The Transaction will be funded from existing resources and is expected to reduce NatWest Group’s CET1 ratio by c.130 basis points.
The transaction will strengthen NatWest Group’s capital generation and it will remain well-capitalised. Following the £750 million share buyback announced today, NatWest Group expects its next share buyback announcement to be at its H1 2027 results.
The ordinary dividend payout ratio of around 50% of attributable profits remains unchanged.
The Transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the summer of 2026.
Ardea Partners International LLP and BofA Securities served as joint lead financial advisers to NatWest. UBS also acted as a financial adviser to NatWest.
Investor Conference Call and Information
NatWest Group CEO Paul Thwaite and CFO Katie Murray will host a call for analysts and investors at 8am (GMT) on Monday 9th February.
The update will be hosted via Zoom. Zoom Meeting ID: 980 9474 7189
Please register to join the event via the link:
https://natwest-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R6GyhY-rRt6gju-gRHqybQ
United Kingdom: +44 203 481 5240
New York: +1 646 558 8656
Additional information
1. Completion of the Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary regulatory approvals. The timing of the satisfaction of the conditions is uncertain, given the involvement of third parties, but it is currently expected that completion will occur in the summer of 2026.
2. Evelyn Partners’ full year 2025 results include Operating Income of £509m, Costs of £330m, EBITDA of £179m, AUMA of £68.6bn and Net New Money of £1.6bn. Evelyn Partners AUMA CAGR of >7% is across 2023-25.
3. NatWest Group’s Private Banking & Wealth Management business Customer Assets and Liabilities, including Assets under Management and Administration are as at 31 December 2025.
4. The combined fee income of NatWest Group’s Private Banking & Wealth Management business and Evelyn Partners is for the full year 2025.
5. The combined cost base of NatWest Group’s Private Banking & Wealth Management business and Evelyn Partners is for the full year 2025.
6. The CET1 ratio impact of c.130 basis points is based on the capital position at 31 December 2026, proforma for RWA on 1 January 2027.
7. Financial information is unaudited.
