Cetera Financial Group says its parent company is selling a majority stake in the firm to private-equity group Genstar Capital. Terms were not disclosed, but Cetera expected the deal to close by Sept. 30.
The news comes about five months after Cetera said it was working with Goldman Sachs on a review of its capital structure amid a whirlwind of industry chatter about a possible sale of the company to a larger broker-dealer or a rival financial-services firm.
Overall, Cetera has about 8,000 affiliated independent advisors.
(Related: What Is Going on With Cetera?)
“Working with Tony Salewski and the team at Genstar, we found a lot of alignment around … wealth management and what our leadership position can mean for the profession and opportunities to tap into for potential growth,” said Cetera CEO Robert Moore, in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “We couldn’t be more pleased re what it portends for us.”
Some of Genstar’s present and past investments in the financial sector are Mercer Advisors, AssetMark, Ascensus, Apex Fund Services, Acrisure, ISS and Strategic Insight. Its board includes Ben Brigeman, who led Charles Schwab’s retail business, and Hal Strong, formerly vice chairman of Russell Investments.
(Related: Cetera Grabs LPL Recruiting Exec, Cooling Rumors of Sale to Rival)
Asked if Genstar aims to work with Cetera in order to put all or some of the business on the chopping block (as some other private-equity groups have done to broker-dealers), Salewski said: “There are no plans to sell part of this business or exit it quickly …, and we are investing in [it] for growth. It’s the right time for the marketplace … and for helping advisors deliver holistic financial-planning advice to clients, for which demand is only increasing.”