Lightyear looking to raise $1.1B through UBS

A year after pulling off the high-profile acquisition of a leading network of independent broker-dealers, Lightyear Capital LLC, which is controlled by former PaineWebber chief executive and chairman Donald Marron, is back in the market looking to raise more than $1 billion from investors. According to a Feb. 22 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lightyear Fund III LP has raised $150 million and is seeking to raise a total of $1.1 billion. The minimum investment from an outside investor in the new fund is $10 million, and UBS Securities LLC, the former PaineWebber, is listed as the only recipient of sales compensation, according to the filing. The SEC filing does not list the sales commission for brokers selling the deal or the potential use of proceeds. Lightyear is a private-equity firm focused on the financial services business and has been spending on acquisitions. Earlier this month, Lightyear said it, along with management, was buying ING Clarion Partners, the direct real estate unit of ING Group NV. Lightyear has done business with ING before. Last year, it bought three broker-dealers from ING: Financial Network Investment Corp., Multi-Financial Securities Corp., and PrimeVest Financial Services Inc. The acquired firms kept their names but now operate under a new group name, Cetera Financial Group. Terms of that deal were not disclosed. A spokeswoman for Lightyear, Sara Sefcovic, did not return a phone call seeking comment about Lightyear's plans to spend the money it is raising in the new fund.