Brewin Dolphin has agreed to a £1.6bn takeover offer from Royal Bank of Canada.
Shares in the wealth management group soared by 61%, or 194p, to 512p after it said it was recommending the all-cash bid of 515p per share.
Brewin said the bid was pitched at a 62% premium to its undisturbed share price. The enlarged group will manage about £64bn, making it the third-largest manager in the UK and Ireland.
RBC indicated that there would be a rationalisation of its estate, warning that there would be “limited headcount reductions” affecting Brewin’s 34 regional branches.
