NatWest considering bid for Tilney Smith & Williamson - report

NatWest is reportedly considering a £3bn takeover bid for wealth manager Tilney Smith & Williamson.

According to Sky News, the bank is in the early stages of considering an offer for Tilney, which is being put up for sale by its private equity backers. If it were to go ahead, it would be NatWest’s biggest corporate acquisition since it was rescued by taxpayers nearly 15 years ago.

Sky cited City sources as saying that the high street lender, which remains under minority state ownership, was among a substantial number of banks and financial investors likely to explore bids for Tilney. The wealth manager, which manages more than £57bn for clients and is owned by buyout firms Permira and Warburg Pincus, is expected to fetch between £2.5bn and £3bn from a sale.

Sky said the two owners appointed investment bankers at Evercore to examine a sale or stock market flotation of the business, although the latter option may have been derailed by market volatility exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It was understood that a sale process for Tilney - which is to be rebranded as Evelyn later this year - is scheduled to get under way in the next six weeks.

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that it was possible Warburg Pincus would acquire Permira's stake, although a number of other major banks are also expected to look closely at Tilney.

Sky said it was unclear how any acquisition of Tilney, which also owns the BestInvest platform, might fit with NatWest's existing wealth operations.