A takeover contest is continuing for UK wealth management group Evelyn Partners, the business that was formed via a series of mergers about five years ago.

A pair of the UK’s largest banks are contesting over a takeover battle for Evelyn Partners, a UK-based wealth management group, Sky News reported yesterday.

There have been rumours that banks, possibly including Barclays, were eyeing the firm as they seek to capture opportunities in the domestic wealth management space, notwithstanding the challenges of rising taxes on HNW individuals under the current government.

Sky News said it understands that Barclays and NatWest Group were among the bidders notified last week, and that they were through to the second round of the Evelyn auction.

To date, Evelyn Partners has declined to comment on the speculation about its future. Evelyn Partners declined to comment to WealthBriefing about the matter when contacted today.

The media report said that Royal Bank of Canada is also in the frame to buy Evelyn, while a number of private equity firms have tabled offers for the business. Lloyds Banking Group is understood to have explored an offer for Evelyn, although the report said it was unclear on Tuesday whether it remained interested.

If NatWest were to buy Evelyn, it would add to its established wealth management presence in its Coutts banking arm. At the end of September this year, Evelyn Partners had £67 billion ($90 billion) in AuM. The media report referred to a "£2.5 billion" takeover battle, but did not specify exactly how it arrived at that figure.

Evelyn is owned by the private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus, having merged their respective firms Tilney and Smith & Williamson in 2020. The Evelyn brand was adopted in 2022.  Evelyn Partners’ story dates back to when funds of private equity house Permira bought the Bestinvest IFA firm and combined it with Tilney in 2014. The group acquired Towry Group in 2016 and merged with Smith & Williamson in 2020, which was supported by funds advised by Warburg Pincus.

The report added that the auction is being handled by bankers at Evercore. Barclays and NatWest declined to comment, the report said.

In November 2024, Evelyn Partners agreed to sell its professional services business to funds advised by Apax Partners.

In recent years, Evelyn Partners has made a number of moves to raise its profile, for example through sponsorship of various sports and events.