Natwest is gearing up to sell pension provider Cushon just two years after it first acquired the business.
The bank has lined up advisers to help work on a sale of the London fintech and is already in talks with a number of potential suitors, according to a report by Sky News.
Natwest acquired an 85 per cent stake in the firm in 2023 for £144, with the remaining 15 per cent stake controlled by the fintech’s management.
Since then, the business has grown to become a major workplace pensions, savings and financial wellbeing provider, serving more than 650,000 members across 21,000 employers.
At the time of the acquisition, then-CEO Alison Rose said the deal meant the bank was “equipping ourselves with the tools to develop a proposition which responds to our customers’ changing needs whilst delivering value-driven sustainable growth and returns.”
But under Rose’s successor Paul Thwaite, there has been a change of tack, with the bank simplifying its operations, driving disciplined growth and focusing primarily on large-scale acquisitions, such as weighing a bid to buy the UK operations of Santander.
The bank is also anticipating consolidation in the pensions sector, following the government’s reforms to the sector in a bid to drive scale.
A Natwest spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation.
“Our focus remains on delivering for our customers.”
Dealmaking activity surges
The move comes amid a frenzy of dealmaking in the European banking sector, with more than 50 M&A deals across the sector in the 12 months to 30 June 2025, according to data compiled by law firm White & Case, after the top 20 European banks built up a war cgest if as much as $600bn in excess capital.
A key driver of the activity is thought to be the availability of high-quality targets as banks offloaded more than 40 sizeable non-core subsidiaries over the course of the year.
White & Case partner Hyder Jumabhoy said: “Consolidation fever has swept through the market over the past year with banks buoyed by their freedom from government ownership and healthy M&A war chests.
“Finally, the flood gates of European bank public M&A are open, accompanied by a flurry of private M&A. The next twelve months will be anything but dull.”