Ron Carson sells 29% stake in his firm for $35M

Private-equity firm Long Ridge Equity Partners has led a $35 million investment in Carson Group Holdings to help the wealth manager make acquisitions, according to the firm's founder and chief executive Ron Carson. “We plan on doing a fair number of acquisitions,” Mr. Carson, one of independent broker-dealer LPL Financial's top financial advisers, said in a phone interview. He estimated his firm could grow “tenfold” over the next five to seven years, in part through acquisitions. The deal gives Long Ridge and others investors a 29% equity stake in the firm, according to Mr. Carson. Members of his leadership team plus two outside directors co-invested equity, he said. “I still control the company,” said Mr. Carson, who'll now own the remaining 71% of the Omaha, Nebraska-based business. Carson Group Holdings offers a range of services to high-net-worth investors and financial advisers through its three companies, Carson Wealth, Peak Advisor Alliance and Carson Institutional Alliance. Founded in 1983, Carson Wealth has more than $6.5 billion in assets, according to a May 24 statement on the investment from Long Ridge Equity Partners. Mr. Carson as been a registered member of LPL's broker-dealer network since 1989, according to BrokerCheck.

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