NatWest is in the early stages of considering a bid for wealth management firm Quilter, according to reports.

City sources have apparently told This Is Money that private equity firms including CVC, Bain Capital and BC Partners have also shown interest in the FTSE250 group in recent weeks.

Quilter has a value of £1.4bn. It is said to be one of many wealth management firms which lack scale and investment to compete with larger players and banks.

The wealth management firm’s share price shot up this morning (1 August), following the speculation.

In April, Sky News reported that NatWest is considering a takeover bid for Tilney Smith & Williamson – now called Evelyn Partners.

Evelyn Partners’ private equity backers are Permira and Warburg Pincus have stakes in the firm which could be sold for between £2.5bn to £3bn.

It owns Coutts, whose clients include the Queen, members of the aristocracy and wealthy City professionals.

The banking giant published its results for the first half of the year on Friday (29 July).

It reported pre-tax profits of £2.6bn, and returned £2.1bn to shareholders.

Total income was £404m, 18.8%, higher than H1 2021.

The group said this reflects higher deposit income, supported by recent base rate rises, combined with strong mortgage balance growth, higher unsecured balances and higher transactional-related fee income.

It was partially offset by lower mortgage margins.