Osaic nabs Lincoln Financial Advisors in latest purchase

Osaic Inc., formerly Advisor Group, said Thursday it had reached an agreement to acquire Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and Lincoln Financial Securities Corp. the wealth management firms that make up “Lincoln Wealth,” from the insurer Lincoln National Corp.

The approximately 1,450 financial advisors involved in transaction oversee roughly $108 billion in assets.

Osaic did not comment on the acquisition cost, but Lincoln Financial said it was $700 million in a separate announcement.

"The transaction is expected to provide approximately $700 million of capital benefit to Lincoln upon closing, which is anticipated to be used primarily to increase the company’s risk-based capital ratio," according to Lincoln Financial. "Lincoln also plans to use a portion of the capital benefit to reduce its leverage ratio."

Osaic, currently owned by private equity manager Reverence Capital, is a giant network of 10,500 brokers and financial advisors who oversee $500 billion in client assets. It said earlier this year it was moving to operate its various broker-dealers under one brand and service platform: Osaic.

Osaic has been on a buying spree; it acquired American Portfolios Financial Services Inc. and Infinex Investments Inc. last year.

Osaic said in its announcement of the Lincoln Wealth deal that it had been structured to create an easy as possible transition for the advisors and clients, with minimal to no repapering and no change to account numbers.

Lincoln Wealth's leadership team and employees will join Osaic intact as stand-alone entities following the completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals.

Lincoln National Corp. has been a strategic partner to Osaic for more than a decade and the two companies will continue to work together and expand their partnership over time, they said in the announcement of the deal.

"This acquisition was driven by the strong partnership between Osaic and Lincoln Financial Group which will continue into the future,” Jamie Price, CEO of Osaic, said in the statement. “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.”