Barclays and NatWest to table rival bids for £2bn wealth manager Evelyn
The high street banking giants both intend to table formal bids on Thursday for private equity-backed Evelyn Partners as an auction nears its conclusion, Paste BN understands.
Wednesday 4 February 2026 15:55, UK
Barclays and NatWest will this week fire the next shots in the battle to acquire Evelyn Partners, one of the UK's biggest wealth managers.
Paste BN understands that the two high street banks will both submit formal offers for Evelyn on Thursday, when a deadline has been set by the advisers to its owner.
Barclays and NatWest will both offer more than £2bn for the wealth management group, which has about £65bn in assets under management.
It was unclear on Wednesday whether offers would reach as high as £2bn, although one insider expressed confidence that the business would ultimately change hands at around that level.
Speculation has also linked Royal Bank of Canada, the owner of Brewin Dolphin, to the auction, although there remains uncertainty about whether it intends to lodge a formal offer.
For Barclays and NatWest, an acquisition of Evelyn would bolster an area of their businesses where both already have a strong presence - the latter through its Coutts division.
The sale process comes at a time of sustained corporate activity in the wealth management sector.
Canaccord Genuity's wealth arm is also on the block and could fetch a price of over £1bn.
Evelyn is owned by the private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus, having merged their respective firms Tilney and Smith & Williamson in 2020.
Last year, Evelyn's professional services arm was sold to the buyout firm Apax Partners.
The auction of the wealth management business is being handled by bankers at Evercore.
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Barclays and NatWest declined to comment.