Schorsch's RCS Capital gets regulatory clearance for Cetera Financial deal

RCS Capital Corp. said Monday that regulators had approved its $1.15 billion acquisition of Cetera Financial Holdings Inc., clearing a major hurdle in the pending deal. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. last week gave its OK for RCAP to acquire the four broker-dealer subsidiaries of Cetera, granting final approval of the change of ownership in connection with RCAP's announcement in January of the acquisition, which involves close to 6,600 registered reps and advisers. RCAP expects to close the Cetera acquisition in the next several days, according to a company statement. RCS Capital and related companies, along with executive chairman of the board Nicholas Schorsch, have spent the better part of the past year making five deals for nine separate broker-dealers that together house 8,900 reps and advisers. The four broker-dealers underneath the Cetera brand are the most prominent so far. In total, the broker-dealers generated $1.7 billion in revenue last year and had $202 billion in assets under administration.