RCAP closes another independent B-D deal

RCS Capital Corp. completed the purchase of Girard Securities Thursday, the second independent broker-dealer acquisition in as many weeks. Girard, a mid-sized firm with a strong history of family leadership, will be the eleventh independent broker-dealer to operate under the umbrella of the Cetera Financial Group, the retail and wealth management division of RCS Capital Corp., or RCAP. Last week, RCAP said it had closed its acquisition of VSR Financial Services Inc., another mid-sized independent broker-dealer. RCAP announced both the VSR and Girard acquisitions in August. Girard has 250 registered reps and advisers and more than $10 billion in assets under administration, according to a statement by RCAP. Cetera Financial Group has $236 billion in assets under administration and 9,600 reps and advisers, the company said. Terms of the deal were not released. IBD industry veteran Richard Woltman was the founder of the firm. His daughter, Susan Woltman Tietjen, is its chairman and chief executive. “Our financial advisers are excited to join the Cetera Financial Group family of broker-dealers,” Ms. Tietjen said in a statement. “We expect this transaction will allow us to benefit from RCS Capital's scope and scale to deliver greater benefits to our clients, including access to a diversified portfolio of investment and wealth planning solutions.” Since late October, industry observers have wondered whether the deals for Girard and VSR would be completed, after a related company, the giant net lease real estate investment trust American Realty Capital Properties Inc., or ARCP, revealed a $23 million accounting error that was intentionally uncorrected. That admission led to a broad shake-up and realignment of the real estate and brokerage empire created by Nicholas Schorsch. Mr. Schorsch, the architect of RCAP and ARCP, has since resigned as chairman of both firms, although he remains the controlling shareholder of RCAP. Both RCAP and ARCP have grown quickly in the past 24 months due to a furious pace of acquisitions. Broker-dealers and clearing firms temporarily halted sales of nontraded REITs and other products marketed by Realty Capital Securities, the marketing and wholesaling broker-dealer controlled by RCAP. RCAP's share price has fallen 48% since the reporting of ARCP's accounting problems and was trading Thursday morning at $10.24.