Peter Flavel

Adam & Co’s Edinburgh-based investment management business has client assets amounting to £1.7 billion.

The sale comes after increasing speculation regarding a potential disposal as RBS-owner Natwest Group focuses on its core UK banking operations.

Canaccord Genuity, which is undertaking the deal through its wealth management business in the UK, said the acquisition marked a “unique opportunity” to enter the Scottish market with a “deeply established franchise and a strong brand”.

CGWM UK intends to continue to operate the business under the name of Adam & Company.

It said: “The business’s core client proposition will remain largely unchanged, and the existing direct relationships between clients and portfolio managers will not be affected.”

During the period to deal completion, the group intends to establish a new office location for the Adam & Co investment management business in central Edinburgh.

David Esfandi, chief executive of CGWM UK, said: “Adam & Company’s investment management business, a leading regional franchise with has a strong cultural fit and a similar client base to our own.”

A cash consideration of £54m will be paid on closing.

Peter Flavel, CEO of RBS’s Wealth Businesses, commented: “We’ve been pursuing a very successful private bank simplification agenda for several years, the success of which is apparent in the financial results. The sale of Adam & Company’s Investment Management offering to Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management continues this strategy and ensures a renewed focus and strong strategic fit for that business.

“It will also result in a single investment philosophy and simplified and more cost-efficient technology model across the Wealth Businesses. We will, of course, support our team and clients through this transition over the next few months.

“The intended integration of the remainder of Adam & Company into Coutts will result in the creation of a regional Coutts Scotland team, ensuring that we continue to serve Scotland’s important private banking market as we have done for many years.”