Permira and Warburg Pincus agree to sell Evelyn Partners to NatWest

Permira, Warburg Pincus and Evelyn Partners are pleased to announce they have successfully reached an agreement with NatWest Group plc for it to acquire Evelyn Partners for a £2.7 billion enterprise value.  The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to complete in the summer of 2026.

Evelyn Partners is a leading UK wealth manager with more than 180 years of heritage and is entrusted with £69 billion of Assets Under Management and Administration (“AUMA”) by its clients. Evelyn Partners offers an integrated wealth management proposition spanning financial planning, discretionary investment management and, through Bestinvest, an award-winning direct-to-consumer platform and coaching service for self-directed investors. With its diverse service proposition, strength in both financial planning and investment management and office network across 21 locations, Evelyn Partners provides a scalable offering across the UK wealth market supported by a modern technology platform.

Funds advised by Permira originally invested in Bestinvest in 2014 and through a small number of highly selective, transformational combinations, most notably Tilney, Towry and Smith & Williamson, created and integrated the combined group now known as Evelyn Partners. Under the Permira fund’s majority ownership, assets under management increased from ~£5 billion to £69 billion. Warburg Pincus became a minority investor in the company upon the acquisition of Smith & Williamson in 2020.

By combining Evelyn Partners’ £69 billion of AUMA with the £59 billion AUMA of NatWest Group’s existing Private Banking and Wealth Management (PBWM) business, which includes Coutts, NatWest Group will oversee more than £127 billion of AUMA and total Customer Assets and Liabilities (“CAL”) of £188 billion.

Paul Geddes, Chief Executive Officer of Evelyn Partners, said:

“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 Thwaite, Chief Executive of NatWest, 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 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.”

Chris Pell, Managing Director of Permira, said:

“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.”

Peter Deming, Managing Director and Partner of Warburg Pincus, said:

“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.”

Evercore Partners International LLP and Goldman Sachs International are acting as financial advisers to the Evelyn Partners group. Linklaters LLP are acting as legal advisers to Permira and Warburg Pincus. Macfarlanes LLP are acting as legal advisers to the Evelyn Partners group.