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NatWest Group PLC on Monday confirmed its £2.7 billion acquisition of wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, following media reports of an imminent deal, and launched a £750 million buyback programme. The Edinburgh-based lender is buying Evelyn from funds advised by private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus. In NatWest’s view, the deal creates the UK’s ‘leading’ private banking and wealth-management business. Sky News on Saturday had reported that Barclays PLC and Royal Bank of Canada were among the rival bidders for Evelyn. The London-based firm brings £69 billion in assets under management and administration to NatWest, taking their combined total to £127 billion. NatWest gave the deal an enterprise value of £2.7 billion, and expects Evelyn to be growth accretive in the first year of ownership, with ‘exposure to a high-growth, capital-light segment.’ The lender has forecast £100 million in annual cost synergies, and sees the purchase boosting fee income by 20% pre-revenue synergies. It will fund the acquisition from existing resources, and as a result, expects a 130-point reduction in its common equity tier one ratio. ‘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,’ commented NatWest Chief Executive Paul Thwaite. The CEO added that the deal ‘accelerates delivery of NatWest Group’s strategy and positions us to realise our longer-term ambitions.’ ‘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.’ The acquisition is slated to close over the summer, subject to approval, with Ardea Partners International LLP, Bank of America Securities Inc and UBS Group AG acting as advisors to NatWest. Also on Monday, NatWest launched a new buyback scheme worth up to £750 million, and shared plans to announce another round of buybacks at its half-year 2027 results. The lender left its ordinary dividend ratio guidance unchanged at 50% of attributable profit. NatWest shares were down 5.5% to 623.40 pence on Monday morning in London, for an estimated market capitalisation of £50.19 billion. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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