By Everdeen Mason
RCS Capital Corp. agreed to acquire fellow broker-dealer Cetera
Financial Group for $1.15 billion as part of the recently public
RCS's plan to expand its market through independently operated
retail firms.
Cetera was formed in 2010 when Lightyear Capital bought three
ING broker-dealers and merged them into one company. Now, Cetera
has about 6,660 representatives across the U.S. and provides
independent broker-dealer and investment advisory services across
four platforms.
The deal, which is expected to close later this year, will see
Cetera and all its units become part of RCS's retail arm. RCS said
the acquisition will allow it to boost its hold on the retail
distribution market.
The deal "enables us to diversify our revenue streams and
position our securities sales business to attract best-of-class
third-party sponsors, thus mitigating concentration risk among our
retail firms," Chief Executive William M. Kahane said.
RCS closed its initial public offering of 2.5 million shares in
June for $20 a share.
Write to Everdeen Mason at everdeen.mason@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires