REG - NatWest Group plc - Acquisition of Evelyn Partners; new £750m buyback

NatwestAnnouncement

09/02/2026 07:00

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RNS Number : 2169S  NatWest Group plc  09 February 2026

NatWest Group plc

9 February 2026

This announcement contains inside information

9 February 2026

NatWest Group announces the acquisition of Evelyn Partners and a £750m share
buyback

NatWest Group plc ("NatWest Group") is pleased to announce that it has reached
an agreement to acquire Evelyn Partners from funds advised by Permira and
Warburg Pincus for £2.7 billion enterprise value (the "Transaction"). The
Transaction creates the UK's leading Private Banking and Wealth Management
business ("PBWM"), transforming NatWest Group's savings and investment
offering for its 20 million customers. It accelerates delivery of NatWest
Group's strategy, further diversifying  income by increasing fee income by
c.20% pre-revenue synergies.  It also increases NatWest Group's exposure to a
high growth, capital light segment, with PBWM becoming c.20% of group customer
assets and liabilities. NatWest Group is also announcing a share buyback of
£750 million, continuing its strong track record of capital return to
shareholders.

 

Commenting on the acquisition, Paul Thwaite, Chief Executive of NatWest Group,
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
services 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."

 

Paul Geddes, Chief Executive of Evelyn Partners, added:

 

"Evelyn Partners is a leading UK wealth manager with more than 180 years of
heritage. We are proud to have grown to £69 billion of assets under
management, under the stewardship of Permira, investors in the business since
2014, and Warburg Pincus, a minority investor since 2020.

 

We are delighted to join NatWest Group, which marks an exciting new chapter
for Evelyn Partners. We both have a long-standing history as highly regarded
wealth managers with a client-centric culture.

 

Together, we have the scale, resources, and shared vision to provide
unparalleled service to our clients. We look forward to working together to
build on our success and drive future growth."

 

 

Evelyn Partners is a leading UK wealth manager with more than 180 years of
heritage overseeing £69 billion of Assets Under Management and Administration
("AUMA"). Evelyn Partners offers an integrated wealth management proposition
spanning financial planning, discretionary investment management and its
direct-to-consumer platform BestInvest.

 

Evelyn Partners is led by a high-calibre management team with a proven track
record of delivery, demonstrated by a compound annual growth rate in AUMA in
excess of 7%. Its fully integrated model, combining approximately 270
financial planners and 325 investment managers, supports deep client
relationships and superior client outcomes.

 

Evelyn Partners generated full year 2025 EBITDA of £179m, meaning that the
transaction values Evelyn Partners at the equivalent of 9.7x 2025 EV to EBITDA
multiple, including target run-rate cost synergies.

 

The Transaction brings together two established institutions with a shared
commitment to supporting clients at every stage of their lives, under the
leadership of Emma Crystal, Chief Executive PBWM.

 

By combining Evelyn Partners' £69 billion of AUMA with NatWest Group's £59
billion brings total AUMA to £127 billion and total Customer Assets and
Liabilities to £188 billion.

 

NatWest Group expects the combination of Evelyn Partners with its existing
PBWM business to create material shareholder value, including estimated annual
run-rate cost synergies of c.£100 million, equivalent to around 10% of the
combined PBWM cost base, with costs to achieve of c.£150 million.

 

NatWest Group also intends to deliver significant revenue synergies through
bringing Evelyn Partners' leading financial planning and investment management
solutions together with NatWest Group's full suite of banking and wealth
management solutions to our 20 million customers.

 

The Transaction is expected to be accretive to NatWest Group's growth and its
Return on Tangible Equity in the first year of ownership and to deliver
returns greater than generated through a share buyback.

 

The Transaction will be funded from existing resources and is expected to
reduce NatWest Group's CET1 ratio by c.130 basis points.

 

The transaction will strengthen NatWest Group's capital generation and it will
remain well-capitalised. Following the £750 million share buyback announced
today, NatWest Group expects its next share buyback announcement to be at its
H1 2027 results.

 

The ordinary dividend payout ratio of around 50% of attributable profits
remains unchanged.

 

The Transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected
to close in the summer of 2026.

 

Ardea Partners International LLP and BofA Securities served as joint lead
financial advisers to NatWest. UBS also acted as a financial adviser to
NatWest.

 

Investor Conference Call and Information

 

NatWest Group CEO Paul Thwaite and CFO Katie Murray will host a call for
analysts and investors at 8am (GMT) on Monday 9th February.

The update will be hosted via Zoom. Zoom Meeting ID: 980 9474 7189

 

Please register to join the event via the link:
https://natwest-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R6GyhY-rRt6gju-gRHqybQ
(https://natwest-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R6GyhY-rRt6gju-gRHqybQ)

United Kingdom: +44 203 481 5240

New York: +1 646 558 8656

International numbers (https://natwest-events.zoom.us/u/aeiuRAWOny)

 

 

Additional information

 

1.    Completion of the Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of
customary regulatory approvals. The timing of the satisfaction of the
conditions is uncertain, given the involvement of third parties, but it is
currently expected that completion will occur in the summer of 2026.

2.    Evelyn Partners' full year 2025 results include Operating Income of
£509m, Costs of £330m, EBITDA of £179m, AUMA of £68.6bn and Net New Money
of £1.6bn. Evelyn Partners AUMA CAGR of >7% is across 2023-25.

3.    NatWest Group's Private Banking & Wealth Management business
Customer Assets and Liabilities, including Assets under Management and
Administration are as at 31 December 2025.

4.    The combined fee income of NatWest Group's Private Banking &
Wealth Management business and Evelyn Partners is for the full year 2025.

5.    The combined cost base of NatWest Group's Private Banking &
Wealth Management business and Evelyn Partners is for the full year 2025.

6.    The CET1 ratio impact of c.130 basis points is based on the capital
position at 31 December 2026, proforma for RWA on 1 January 2027.

7.    Financial information is unaudited.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Investor Relations

Claire Kane

Director of Investor Relations, NatWest Group

 +44 (0) 20 7672 1758

 

Media Relations

 +44 (0) 131 523 4205

 

 

Legal Entity Identifiers

NatWest Group plc: 2138005O9XJIJN4JPN90

National Westminster Bank plc: 213800IBT39XQ9C4CP71

 

This announcement contains information that qualified or may have qualified as
inside information for NatWest Group, for the purposes of Article 7 of the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR) as it forms part of domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 for NatWest Group. This
announcement is made by Claire Kane, Director of Investor Relations for
NatWest Group. Upon the publication of this announcement via a regulatory
information service, this inside information is now considered to be in the
public domain

 

Disclaimer

Merrill Lynch International ("BofA Securities"), which is authorised in the
United Kingdom by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the
United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential
Regulation Authority, is acting for NatWest Group and no one else in
connection with the Transaction and shall not be responsible to anyone other
than NatWest Group for providing the protections afforded to clients of BofA
Securities or its affiliates, nor for providing advice in connection with the
Transaction or any other matter referred to herein.

 

UBS AG London Branch is authorised and regulated by the Financial Market
Supervisory Authority in Switzerland. It is authorised by the Prudential
Regulation Authority and subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct
Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority in the
United Kingdom.  UBS AG London Branch is acting as corporate broker and
financial adviser to NatWest Group and no one else in connection with the
Transaction. In connection with such matters, UBS AG London Branch will not
regard any other person as its client, nor will it be responsible to any other
person for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing
advice in relation to the Transaction, the contents of this announcement or
any other matter referred to herein.

 

Forward-looking statements

This announcement may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as
statements with respect to NatWest Group's financial condition, results of
operations and business, including its strategic priorities, financial,
investment and capital targets, and climate and sustainability related
targets, commitments and ambitions described herein. Statements that are not
historical facts, including statements about NatWest Group's beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. Words, such as 'expect',
'estimate', 'project', 'anticipate', 'commit', 'believe', 'should', 'intend',
'will', 'plan', 'could', 'target', 'goal', 'objective', 'may', 'outlook',
'prospects' and similar expressions or variations on these expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this
announcement may include forward-looking statements relating, but not limited
to: cost savings, revenues and/or cost synergies, ROIC, fee income, capital
generation, share buyback, NatWest Group's outlook, guidance and targets
(including in relation to RoTE, total income, other operating expenses, loan
impairment rate, CET1 ratio, RWA levels, and payment of dividends), its
financial position, profitability and financial performance, the
implementation of its strategy, its access to adequate sources of liquidity
and funding, its regulatory capital position and related requirements, its
impairment losses and credit exposures under certain specified scenarios,
substantial regulation and oversight, ongoing legal, regulatory and
governmental actions and investigations. Forward-looking statements are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results
and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or
performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause or contribute to differences in current expectations include,
but are not limited to, future growth initiatives (including acquisitions,
joint ventures and strategic partnerships), the outcome of legal, regulatory
and governmental actions and investigations, the level and extent of future
impairments and write-downs, legislative, political, fiscal and regulatory
developments, accounting standards, competitive conditions, technological
developments such as artificial intelligence, interest and exchange rate
fluctuations, general economic and political conditions and uncertainties,
exposure to third party risk, operational risk, conduct risk, cyber, data and
IT risk, financial crime risk, key person risk and credit rating risk and the
impact of climate and sustainability-related risks and the transitioning to a
net zero economy. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties that may
impact any forward-looking statement or NatWest Group's actual results are
discussed in NatWest Group's 2024 Annual Report and Accounts on Form 20-F,
NatWest Group's Interim Management Statement for Q1, H1 and Q3 2025 on Form
6-K, and its other public filings. The forward-looking statements contained in
this announcement speak only as of the date of this announcement and NatWest
Group does not assume or undertake any obligation or responsibility to update
any of the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the
extent legally required.

 

 

ENDS

 

 

 

 

 

 

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