The acquired firm is the second largest such independent wealth management group in the country, with almost 8,000 advisors.

Private equity house Genstar Capital has bought a majority stake in Cetera Financial Group, a wealth management firm with just under 8,000 advisors and the second largest independent player of its kind in the US.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Cetera will continue to operate under a multi-affiliation structure, through two core channels – traditional and specialty, serving a range of independent advisor businesses and financial institutions, it was said in a statement this week.

As part of the arrangement, Genstar has entered a definitive agreement with Aretec Group, the holding company for Cetera, in a transaction expected to close in the late third quarter of this year.  Cetera’s leadership team will retain a “meaningful ownership position”, it said.

Among recent financial services deals by San Francisco-based Genstar are Mercer Advisors, AssetMark, Ascensus, Apex Fund Services, Acrisure, ISS, and Strategic Insight. 

To drive such investment, Genstar has put together a board of directors. Besides RJ Moore, chief executive of Cetera, Genstar representatives will include Tony Salewski and Sid Ramakrishnan as well as Ben Brigeman, former executive vice president for Charles Schwab, who led the company’s individual investor (retail) business; and Hal Strong, formerly vice chairman of Russell Investments.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals.  Goldman Sachs served as Cetera’s financial advisors in this transaction, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom served as legal counsel for the company. UBS Investment Bank and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. served as financial advisors to Genstar, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal counsel for Genstar.

Genstar has about $10 billion in assets under management and chooses investments focused on targeted segments of the financial services, industrial technology, healthcare and software industries. In Cetera’s case, it says it is the second largest independent financial advisor network in the US measured by number of advisors, as well as a leading service provider to the investment programs of banks and credit unions.