Royal Bank of Canada has signed an agreement to acquire Mourant Private Wealth, the bank announced Friday.

Mourant Private Wealth is based in Jersey with operations in Dubai and Cayman. It is the 47 employee private client trust business of Mourant Limited (Mourant), whose group of businesses includes one of the leading offshore law firms Mourant du Feu & Jeune.

Completion of the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval, but is expected to close in early 2009. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Mourant Private Wealth is expected to add more than 3.5 billion sterling pounds ($6.3 billion) in assets under administration to RBC Wealth Management.

With the completion of this latest acquisition, RBC Wealth Management will have over 800 trust professionals.

“Mourant Private Wealth brings to RBC Wealth Management a dedicated focus on trust, experienced professionals and a terrific cultural fit and philosophy,” said Paul Patterson, head of RBC Wealth Management, British Isles, in a release.

“This transaction advances our long-term strategy to build further on our core business of integrated private wealth management services to international clients by hiring experienced professionals with strong client relationships,” Patterson added.

IE