Wentworth broker-dealer is going public via SPAC

Wentworth Management Services, which owns four broker-dealers that combine for $25 billion under management, is going public through a special purpose acquisition company with the ultimate objective of growing through acquisitions.

The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will merge the SPAC, Kingswood Acquisition Corp., with Wentworth, to operate as a new entity, Binah Capital Group.

The combined entity is expected to encompass more than 1,900 advisers and more than $285 billion in affiliated assets under management.

Binah will have a pro forma enterprise value of $208 million, which is on the smaller side for SPAC IPOs, according to Julian Klymochko, chief executive of Accelerate Financial Technology.

“The average SPAC deal is probably around $1 billion, and this is not the smallest I’ve seen but it’s smaller than usual,” he said.

Klymochko said most of the recent SPAC IPOs have involved technology companies, which is what makes the Wentworth deal “a little unusual.”

Wentworth representatives said the company is not responding beyond Thursday’s announcement of the deal, which included a statement from Kingswood CEO Michael Nessim.

“We're excited to create Binah Capital Group, a firm with a national scale and footprint that is well-positioned to succeed in a fast-evolving wealth management industry landscape,” Nessim said in the statement.

“This transaction underscores the importance for wealth management firms to align themselves with organizations that have truly global reach, resources and expertise to accelerate their continued growth and make the most of multiple opportunities that industry, market and economic trends are creating,” Nessim added. “We're pleased to have supported this transaction and look forward to all that we can achieve together going forward.”

The announcement also included a statement from Kingswood chairman Gary Wilder that suggested the motivation for the deal: “The $29.1 trillion U.S. wealth management industry is poised for its next chapter of aggressive growth, and firms making the right choice at the right time are aligning themselves with the strongest option available in a globally fragmented sector ripe for consolidation."

The Kingswood SPAC, which went public in November 2020 and has been trading under the ticker symbol KWAC, got shareholder approval to extend its initial May 2022 expiration date until November of this year.

The letter of intent to acquire Wentworth was signed on May 13, leading to Thursday’s announcement of the definitive agreement.

[More: Two top B-D executives behind SPACs to buy RIAs and fintechs]