Investors Capital shareholders back Schorsch's RCS Capital merger

Investors Capital Holdings Ltd. said Tuesday its shareholders had approved the terms of the merger with RCS Capital Corp., best known by its ticker symbol RCAP. Announced last October, the deal is scheduled to close on Friday, Investors Capital said in a statement Tuesday. Buying Investors Capital Holdings for $52.5 million in cash and stock was one of five separate acquisitionsby RCAP and its executive chairman Nicholas Schorsch to build a far-ranging network of independent broker-dealers that are home to 9,000 registered representatives and advisers. Investors Capital Holdings is the last of those announced acquisitions to close. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Investors Capital shareholders will receive $7.25 in cash per share or an equal consideration of RCAP stock, which was trading at $21.50 on Wednesday morning in New York. The biggest asset of Investors Capital Holdings is its independent broker-dealer, Investors Capital Corp. The firm had 441 producing reps and advisers in 2013 and total revenues of $93.2 million. At the end of June, RCAP said it had closed its previously announced acquisition of the Hatteras Funds Group, a family of alternative investment mutual funds. Hatteras Funds will continue to operate under current management and the Hatteras brand.