Stifel Financial Corp. has announced it plans to purchase 55 branches from the UBS Wealth Management Americas branch network.

The branches are located across 24 states, with 320 advisors and about $15 billion assets under management, according to Stifel. They generated a total of about $116 million in revenue in 2008, the company said.

The branches will be bought from UBS Financial Services Inc. by Stifel's principal operating subsidiary, Stifel, Nicholaus & Company, Inc. Stifel will make an upfront cash payment of $27 million based on the actual number of branches and advisors acquired, according to Stifel. UBS will also receive annual earn-out payments for the two-year period "following the closing of the transaction principally based on performance of the UBS Financial Advisors who become Stifel Nicolaus Employees," and aggregate payments of up to about $19 million for net fixed assets and employee forgivable loans.

"The addition of this talented group of professionals furthers our efforts to meet our goal of expanding across the country and further build upon Stifel's recent growth achieved through our successful acquisitions and integrations of the Legg Mason Capital Markets Group in 2005, Ryan Beck in 2007 and Butler Wick last year," Stifel Chairman and CEO Ronald J. Kruszewski said.