Evelyn Partners, the wealth manager, is said to have dropped plans for a flotation and is expected to put itself up for sale to either a trade buyer or instiutional investors.
Potential bidders are likely to pay about £2 billion and are thought to include NatWest (RBS), Royal Bank of Canada, the US-based Raymond James group and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Rathbones, Quilter and St James’s Place are others which may be interested.
NatWest is among the favoured buyers after its chief executive, Paul Thwaite, indicated interest in expanding the bank’s its wealth operations, headed by Coutts.
They will be attracted by a prosperous, high-saving demographic in an environment of rising asset prices.
Evelyn’s existing owners, the private equity groups Permira and Warburg Pincus, have appointed the investment bank Evercore to handle a possible auction of the group, according to the Financial Times.
Sources familiar with the process said an IPO had not been entirely dropped as an option but a trade sale was seen as more likely, realistically by the first quarter of 2026 at the earliest.
Evelyn, which traces its roots back to the old Tilney brand founded in Liverpool in 1836, is one of the top five wealth managers in the UK with £62 billion of assets under management as of March this year.
It offloaded its Smith & Williamson professional services division and its fund administration arm in order to create a more focused business.
A spokesperson for Evelyn Partners said the company does not comment on rumour or market speculation.
NatWest, Permira and Warburg Pincus declined to comment.
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