Phoenix-based Osaic announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation and Lincoln Financial Securities Corporation from Lincoln National Corporation.
Combined as Lincoln Wealth, Lincoln Financial Advisors and Lincoln Financial Securities oversee 1,450 advisors and approximately $108 billion in client assets, $71 billion of which is under advisement, $38 billion of which is under management, Osaic said.
"We’re excited to welcome Lincoln Wealth’s impressive leadership team, financial advisors and other dedicated employees to Osaic,” said Jamie Price, chief executive officer of Osaic, in released comments. “This acquisition was driven by the strong partnership between Osaic and Lincoln Financial Group, which will continue into the future. The cultural alignment between Lincoln Wealth and Osaic makes this a natural fit and we look forward to continuing to serve Lincoln Wealth advisors with the strong culture of community and development they have built.”
The acquisition is being structured to create a seamless transition for those advisors and their clients, according to the announcement, with “minimal to no repapering and no change to account numbers.” Initially, Lincoln is expected to remain a separate division though it will gradually be integrated with Osaic.
Lincoln National and Osaic have had a decade-long strategic partnership, according to Osaic, and the two companies plan to continue working together and “expand their partnership over time.”
“Osaic is a company we’ve come to know well,” said David Berkowitz, president for Lincoln Wealth, in comments released Thursday. “They share our dedication to providing innovative solutions to the independent advisor population so that they are best supported in serving their clients, and we believe that together, we can aid advisors’ growth in new ways. Osaic is wholly dedicated to financial advisors and the wealth management business, which will benefit our advisors, and we look forward to joining them in their vision for the future of the industry.”
Osaic is a portfolio company of private equity firm Reverence Capital Partners. It was reported by Bloomberg News two weeks ago that Reverence was seeking to sell a 20% stake in Osaic for $2.5 billion. Osaic was until this year known as Advisor Group, a collection of other firms once associated with insurance giant AIG. It changed its name to Osaic in June and the previous firms under its umbrella, including Royal Alliance, SagePoint, Woodbury Financial, Ladenburg Thalmann and FSC Securities, were absorbed into the new brand.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed and it was unclear if either the acquisitionm or the change in capital structure would impact Osaic's credit rating. Back in late May, Fitch lifted its rating on Advisor Group debt shortly before it rebranded itself under the Osaic umbrella.