RBC to buy prominent U.K. wealth manager Brewin Dolphin for $2.1 billion

The deal will give the firm a No. 3 position in the U.K. market

RBC Wealth Management has agreed to buy Brewin Dolphin Holdings Plc, in an all-cash deal that values the wealth manager at about 1.6 billion pounds (US$2.1 billion).

RBC will pay 515 pence a share in cash for the company, according to a statement Thursday. The price represents a 62 per cent premium to Brewin Dolphin’s last closing share price.

M&A has swept through the wealth industry in the past few years as the rising cost of regulation, tech and operations push firms to merge. Several consolidators have bought advice businesses and wealth boutiques to gain scale. Brewin Dolphin is one of the U.K.’s most prominent wealth managers with 55 billion pounds of assets under management at the end of February.

“The U.K. is a key growth market for RBC, and Brewin Dolphin provides us with an exceptional platform to significantly transform our wealth management business in the region,” Doug Guzman, group head of RBC Wealth Management, said in the statement. The deal will give the firm a no. 3 market position in the U.K., he said.