NatWest closes in on $3.4 billion takeover of wealth manager Evelyn, Sky News reports

Feb 7 (Reuters) – British bank NatWest Group is closing in on a 2.5 billion pound ($3.4 billion) takeover of one of Britain’s largest wealth managers, Evelyn Partners, Sky News reported on Saturday, citing sources.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. NatWest declined to comment while Evelyn did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

NatWest and rival bank Barclays both submitted offers for Evelyn last week, Sky News reported on Wednesday.

NatWest was expected to pay between 2.5 billion to 3 billion pounds to buy Evelyn, the report said, adding that an announcement confirming the deal could come in the early part of next week.

Evelyn’s private equity shareholders, Permira and Warburg Pincus, had kicked off a sale of Evelyn last year, drawing interest from Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds, and the Royal Bank of Canada, Reuters had reported.

Permira has owned Evelyn Partners, formerly known as Tilney Smith & Williamson, since 2014, funding its growth into a wealth manager overseeing 63 billion pounds in client assets.

Warburg Pincus became a minority investor in 2020 to fund a merger between Tilney and accounting firm Smith & Williamson. The rest of the shares are held by current and former staff.

($1 = 0.7348 pounds)

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra and Louise Heavens)