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NatWest Group PLC on Tuesday completed its acquisition of wealth management firm Evelyn Partners for an enterprise value of £2.7 billion. Shares in the Edinburgh-based lender were up 0.7% to 671.40 pence on Wednesday morning in London. NatWest had announced the acquisition of Evelyn from funds advised by private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus back in February. At the time, NatWest also launched a new buyback scheme worth up to £750 million and said it plans to announce another round of buybacks at its half-year 2027 results. At the end of 2025, Evelyn had about £69 billion in assets under management and administration. Combined with NatWest’s £59 in AuMA, this would bring combined AuMA as of December 31 to £127 billion, and total customer assets and liabilities to £188 billion. NatEst is eyeing annual run-rate cost synergies of £100 million through this deal, achieved at a cost of £150 million. ‘The group also expects to deliver significant revenue synergies by combining Evelyn Partners’ financial planning and investment management capabilities, including the Bestinvest platform, with NatWest Group’s banking, savings and wealth management services. The transaction is expected to be accretive to NatWest Group’s growth and return on tangible equity in the first year of ownership,’ NatWest said. The bank expects the wealth management deal to reduce its common equity tier one ratio by 130 basis points. It will consolidate Evelyn within its results from June 30, with the deal’s financial effects to be detailed in NatWest’s 2026 interim results, which are due for release on July 31. NatWest also noted that Chris Kenny had been appointed chief executive of Evelyn, effective from Tuesday. Kenny joined Evelyn as an investment manager in 1997, becoming a partner in 2005 and part of the management team in 2013. Kenny commented: ‘Becoming part of NatWest Group strengthens our ability to support them over the long term, while preserving the personal relationships, trusted advice and investment expertise that they value from Evelyn Partners.’ NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite added: ‘Today marks an important step as we bring together two leading businesses and accelerate the delivery of our strategy, at a time when the benefits of saving and investing are increasingly part of the national conversation...Together, we are now the UK’s leading private banking and wealth management business.’ Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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