Cetera Financial Group is growing again.
The broker-dealer network has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tower Square Securities and Walnut Street Securities from MetLife. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The two firms, both of which were independent B-D units of MetLife, will become part of Cetera Advisor Networks -- one of Cetera's member B-Ds. They have offices in the Midwest and Northeast, expanding Ceteras footprint in those areas. Walnut Street Securities was ranked No. 39 on last year's FP50 ranking. Tower Square was No. 88 on the list.
The deal brings the parent company, Cetera Financial Group, to more than 7,000 advisors and more than $130 billion in total client assets, according to the announcement.
Craig Markham, who was president of both Tower Square and Walnut Street, will join Cetera Advisor Networks as senior vice president of advisor relations, according to a press release announcing the acquisition. He will oversee the sales and support teams, including the smooth transition of the two firms.
Cetera Advisor Networks president and chief executive Doug King called Tower Square and Walnut Street advisors a perfect fit for Cetera Advisor Networks. These advisors join a firm of like-minded professionals and get access to the benefits that can only come with our collective scale, King said in a statement.
Cetera itself was created almost three years ago as a spinoff of three ING advisor networks. Cetera Financial Group CEO Valerie Brown, who had been CEO of ING's advisor division, helped negotiate a sale to a New York private equity firm, Lightyear Capital.
Last September, after acquiring Genworth Financial Investment Services from insurer Genworth Financial, it
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