Arax Partners, a wealth management firm backed by private equity, has entered into an agreement to buy the $3 billion advisory firm Ashton Thomas Private Wealth.
Arax, which was founded last year to be the wealth management arm of the private equity outfit RedBird Capital Partners, announced the purchase Wednesday in a deal whose terms weren't disclosed. Ashton Thomas was founded in 2010 in Scottsdale, Arizona, and now has 12 offices in seven states.
Of Ashton Thomas's nearly 50 employees, 37 have advisory functions, according to the Form ADV the firm filed on June 7.
"We built this firm to meet the increasingly complex needs of elite wealth advisors and their clients and have a history of attracting top talent across the financial services spectrum," Aaron Brodt, the founder and CEO of Ashton Thomas, said in a statement.
Brodt was at Meridian United Capital from 2008 to 2012 and then Accelerated Capital Group, a now-expelled firm, from 2012 to 2016, according to FINRA's BrokerCheck database. He has four customer complaints on his record. Three of them were settled for $270,000 in total, and the last was dismissed with no action.
Arax Partners is led by Haig Ariyan, a former executive at the financial services firm Alex. Brown who left last year to join RedBird Capital Partners. Arax's purchase of Ashton Thomas comes as more
