RCS Capital to Acquire Cetera Financial for $1.15 Billion

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.

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