M&A
NatWest's Acquisition of Evelyn Partners
An overview of NatWest's £2.7 billion purchase of Evelyn Partners, examining Permira's exit and NatWest's push into wealth management
Younas Ficel ·
On 9 February, NatWest agreed to buy wealth manager Evelyn Partners for £2.7 billion from private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus. It was NatWest's first major acquisition since returning to full private ownership.
Permira first invested in 2014 through the investment platform Bestinvest, then built the group through acquisitions including Tilney, Towry and Smith & Williamson. Warburg Pincus joined as a minority investor in 2020. Under Permira, assets under management grew from around £5 billion to £69 billion, and the sale of the professional services arm to Apax in 2024 left a business focused purely on wealth management.
The deal adds Evelyn to NatWest's private banking and wealth arm, which includes Coutts, taking combined assets to over £127 billion. NatWest said it would raise fee income by around 20% and fund the purchase from existing resources. As a change of control of an FCA-regulated firm, the deal needed regulatory approval, with completion expected this summer. Slaughter and May advised NatWest, Macfarlanes advised Evelyn and Linklaters advised the sellers.
The sale follows a familiar private equity pattern: build a business through acquisitions, then sell it to a strategic buyer. For NatWest, it adds fee income as falling interest rates put pressure on lending.
Sources
- WealthBriefing, ‘NatWest Acquires UK's Evelyn Partners In £2.7 Billion Deal’ (February 2026)
- Global Legal Post, ‘Trio of City firms guide NatWest's £2.7bn Evelyn Partners acquisition’ (February 2026)
- Private Banker International, ‘NatWest enters £2.7bn deal to acquire Evelyn Partners’ (February 2026)