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April 20, 2021 at 06:42 PM
What You Need to Know
- The combined firms will operate under the Sequoia name and have about 110 employees.
- The deal is expected to close in the current quarter.
- Wealthstone's principals will become Sequoia shareholders.
Sequoia Financial Group says it is acquiring Wealthstone Advisors in a deal that should create an RIA with more than $7 billion in assets under management and 110 employees.
The combined firm will be based in Akron, Ohio, and operate under the Sequoia brand. Wealthstone principals Jim Wyland, Norm Cook, Brian Stertzer and Jack Zhang will become shareholders of Sequoia Financial.
Financial terms of the acquisition, expected to close in the current quarter, were not disclosed.
The news comes less than a year after group Kudu Investment Management of New York, which works with capital partner White Mountains Insurance Group, acquired a minority stake in Sequoia.
Sequoia made its latest move just three weeks after the end of the first quarter, in which RIAs completed a record-breaking 58 transactions, according to DeVoe & Co.
“To put the first-quarter transaction volume in perspective, this was the first time RIA M&A crossed the 50-deal milestone in any quarter,” according to the the latest DeVoe & Co. RIA Deal Book. The volume of deals was 33 in January, 12 in February and 13 in March.
Ohio Roots
Sequoia was formed in 1991 in Akron and had about $5.75 billion in assets as of March 31. Wealthstone, founded in 1977 by Wyland in Columbus, Ohio, managed about $1.4 billion in assets as of March 31.
