Investors fret over £2bn City merger

SHARES in Rathbone Brothers dipped yesterday as investors fretted over a planned £2bn merger with rival wealth manager Smith & Williamson.

The proposed deal will create a major player overseeing £56bn of customers’ assets, with a foothold in accounting thanks to Smith & Williamson’s position as the UK’s eighthlargest beancounter.

Rathbones said the pair had been in talks for some time but that there was no guarantee an agreement would be reached.

Shares in the business fell 0.3pc or 8p to 2762p, suggesting traders are yet to be convinced by the plan.

Analysts expect Smith & Williamson to be valued at £600m, meaning the combined group would be worth around £2bn.

Smith & Williamson is privately owned, mostly by its own staff.

The tie-up will create a group with around 3,000 staff, and follows a spate of other consolidation in wealth management.

Big banks are trying to muscle their way into wealth management.