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NatWest Acquires Wealth Manager Evelyn Partners for £2.7bn

Banking and Insurance

Business Honor
10 Febuary, 2026

NatWest strengthens UK wealth and private banking with £2.7bn Evelyn Partners acquisition, aiming to boost fee-based revenue and capture the mass affluent market.

NatWest Group is set to purchase Evelyn Partners, which is one of the biggest wealth managers in the UK, in a deal worth £2.7 billion, making it the largest acquisition by NatWest since the 2008 bailout of the banks by the UK government. The acquisition, which was revealed on the 9th of February 2026, will bring significant improvements to NatWest's private banking and wealth management divisions.

The acquisition would bring 2,400 Evelyn Partners staff under NatWest’s umbrella. It also includes £69 billion in assets. The acquisition puts NatWest in competition with other organizations in the wealth market, including HSBC, Lloyds, and Barclays. Evelyn Partners previously traded as Tilney Smith & Williamson. The organization has 21 regional offices, covering a loyal client base. NatWest aims to combine the acquisition with its current private bank, Coutts. This will create a new "growth engine" that could increase fee-based revenue by 20% for the organization. The acquisition is expected to be completed this summer.

NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite said: "We see the quality and mix of our earnings change quite considerably." The deal represents a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to offer more families across the UK support in financial planning, savings and investments". Gary Greenwood, an equity analyst at Shore Capital, described the deal as "strategically sound" but warned that it was "overly reliant on achieving synergies to justify the very full valuation that is being paid".

The acquisition also comes after NatWest returned to full private ownership in May 2025, 17 years after the Royal Bank of Scotland bailout. The move is also part of a wider trend for the big banking group to increase revenue through wealth management and reduce its exposure to interest rate-sensitive lending. NatWest also disclosed a share buyback plan of £750 million as they prepare their full-year results, which are due this Friday.