Evercore’s $196 million acquisition of Robey Warshaw

Evercore’s $196 million acquisition of Robey Warshaw: securing elite UK advisory talent to accelerate European expansion.

Deal Overview:

Parties: Evercore Inc (‘Evercore’), a global independent investment banking advisory firm, the acquirer; Robey Warshaw LLP (‘Robey Warshaw’), a leading UK-based independent advisory firm, the target.

Total Transaction Size: £146 million, or $196 million

On July 30th, 2025, Evercore announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Robey Warshaw for $196 million, or £146 million. The acquisition represents a significant opportunity for Evercore to build out its European business, and is expected to accelerate Evercore’s growth strategy, expand global client reach and create value for shareholders. The combined group will have more than 400 bankers across nine countries in the EMEA region. The transaction closed on 1st October 2025.

The $196 million purchase price will be split into two tranches. The consideration will include £71 million at closing in the form of Evercore shares (Class A Shares). The remaining £75 million will be due on the first anniversary of the closing (in Class A Shares or cash). A portion of the consideration is subject to repayment if the sellers fail to provide the requisite services over a four-year period following the acquisition. In addition to consideration for the acquisition, Robey Warshaw’s partners have the potential to secure further payouts if they hit undisclosed performance targets. Any retention awards granted to Robey Warshaw employees joining Evercore will be treated as compensation. The FT reported that Robey Warshaw’s partners have made a commitment of at least six years as part of the agreement.

Sullivan & Cromwell advised Evercore, and Freshfields advised Robey Warshaw, on this acquisition. Employment incentives will have been a crucial aspect of the acquisition negotiations; Robey Warshaw gets its reputation from the talent of its partners.

Company Details: Acquirer – Evercore

Founded: 1995

Founder: Roger Altman, former US deputy Treasury secretary (current role – Senior Chairman)

CEO (At Time of Merger): John S. Weinberg (since February 2022)

Market Valuation: > $12 billion (trading as NYSE: EVR)

After its foundation in 1995 by Roger Altman (former US deputy Treasury secretary and co-head of global investment banking at Lehman Brothers), Evercore was initially positioned to challenge boutique investment banks such as Lazard and Rothschild for advisory roles in mergers and acquisitions. The firm differentiated itself by avoiding the conflicts of interest which are common in larger banks – something which continues to be central to its identity. Since its foundation, Evercore has become one of the top M&A advisers on Wall Street. To date, the firm has advised on $5 trillion worth of announced transactions and is ranked among the world’s largest independent advisors. It advises clients on a range of matters, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic shareholder advisory, and restructurings. The firm also provides wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals. The firm was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2006.

However, Evercore remains disproportionately US-focused and has not experienced the same growth in Europe and the UK. Expansion in Europe has been a long-term goal of the firm for some time: in 2011, they acquired another UK boutique investment bank, Lexicon, for £86 million. Despite this, further European expansion has been a prominent aspect of their growth strategy for some time, and their acquisition of Robey Warshaw marks an attempt to plug a hole in their UK offering. The firm’s press release confirms that the addition of Robey Warshaw will enhance Evercore’s position in the UK, the largest M&A advisory market in Europe. They have recently made other high-profile moves in Europe, including the hire of three senior bankers from Lazard in the French market and a new chair of continental Europe, Luigi de Vecchi, earlier this year. Evercore’s goal of European growth also hopes to challenge the dominance of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase in the M&A market.

Company Details: Target – Robey Warshaw

Founded: 2013

Founders: Sir Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw

Robey Warshaw is a boutique investment bank based in London, founded in 2013. Prior to 2020, it only had three partners: Sir Simon Robey (former co-head of mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley), Simon Warshaw (former co-head of investment banking at UBS), and Philip Apostolides (former managing director in Morgan Stanley’s financial sponsors group). In 2020 they added George Osborne, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in 2024, Chetan Singh, who had been the co-head of JPMorgan's financial institutions group in Europe.

The “kiosk” (a firm smaller than a boutique), carved out a niche in the market as advisers to blue-chip companies, and has advised on many of the largest UK deals in the last ten years. Their ethos consisted of maintaining a small partnership tier, which focused on a handful of large-cap clients. This has paid off in the past. Since its foundation, the firm’s annual revenue has, on occasion, exceeded £80 million. Robey Warshaw has also consistently beaten Wall Street banks for the biggest mandates – including deals worth billions of pounds.

Robey Warshaw’s acquisition marks a major change for the previously small, independent investment bank. However, it also secures the future of the firm; Robey Warshaw had previously faced debate about the future of its founders, Simon Robey (65 years old) and Simon Warshaw (59 years old). In an interview with the FT, Robey noted the financial attraction of the deal, the opportunity to put the firm ‘in a safe place’, and the appeal of spending the rest of his career at Evercore.

As Robey Warshaw is made up of only five partners, this valuation effectively pays £30 million per partner. However, it has been reported that the bulk of the payouts will go to the three original partners in the firm. In particular, George Osborne (one of Robey Warshaw’s five partners) is expected to step back to a part-time role and to receive little of the consideration for the acquisition.

Legal Contentions

There has been no public suggestion of any regulator launching a review or investigation in response to the acquisition. The deal closed as of the 1st October 2025, with no indication of any antitrust obstacles prior to closing. Given Robey Warshaw’s small size, with only five partners and around eighteen employees, this is unsurprising. The acquisition targeted talent acquisition, bringing relationships and clients, rather than combining two platforms, which might have posed a competition issue.

However, Robey Warshaw will have been bound by the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) regulations, since it carries out financial advisory activities (requiring FCA-authorisation). Evercore’s acquisition of Robey Warshaw, therefore, will have triggered regulatory requirements (such as notifications or applications to the FCA/PRA (Prudential Regulation Authority)) due to the change of its ownership. These requirements come under Part XII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), which governs ‘control over authorised persons’. The acquisition might also fall under the updated guidance (published on 1 November 2024 by the FCA/PRA), FG24/5, which sets out how firms and prospective controllers should approach a ‘change in control’. However, as above, the lack of any public information about regulatory investigations likely suggests that the acquisition was cleared by the financial regulator before closing.

Success and Future Implications

The completed acquisition has bolstered Evercore’s European offering – the firm now has around 400 bankers across nine countries in Europe – and has significantly bolstered its UK practice through the addition of the high-profile partners of Robey Warshaw.

Robey Warshaw’s client relationships and expertise is expected to complement Evercore’s platform, delivering better results for clients in the long-term on both sides. Evercore also expects the acquisition to be accretive to its Adjusted and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) Earnings Per Share (EPS) in the first full year together and thereafter. Evercore’s share price reached a six-month high towards the end of September (of 355.88 USD), perhaps as a consequence of this acquisition. However, it has since fallen to 329.83 USD.

While it may be too soon to tell, Evercore’s management seems hopeful that this acquisition represents just one stage of the firm’s growth and expansion in the European M&A market. Although dependent on performance – something which has been incentivised by Evercore’s compensation structure – it seems likely that the acquisition will assist Evercore in this respect.

It is likely that this acquisition is only one step in Evercore’s European strategy; we might expect to see further hires or acquisitions in the near future, as the firm aims to position itself among the top M&A advisory investment banks.