Nebraska-based Securities America, the independent broker/dealer owned by Ladenburg Thalmann, has acquired Foothill Securities, a small IBD in Santa Clara, Calif., for an undisclosed amount. The deal adds 210 advisors, $5.14 billion in client assets and $38 million in revenue to Securities America.
Foothill Securities has been searching for a larger buyer for some time, President and CEO Steve Chipman said. Increased compliance costs related to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, finalized in April, cemented the small IBD’s decision to search for a buyer.
The acquisition will also allow Foothill to improve its support and offerings to attract new advisors.
“We selected Securities America, one of the country’s largest independent broker-dealers, because it will offer our advisors additional compliance support, better technology, broader asset management resources and practice management programs for the full practice life cycle,” Chipman said in a statement. “At the same time, advisors will still receive the close-knit culture and personal attention of our branch support team.”
Foothill will be the eighth firm Securities America has acquired during the past eight years, accounting for more than 900 advisors, $114 million in revenue and over $12.6 billion in client assets.
“Our project list includes more than 750 tasks across 12 departments, led by a cross-departmental team of more than 25 employees,” said Gregg Johnson, Securities America executive vice president of branch office development and acquisitions. “No other independent broker-dealer, to our knowledge, has done as many of these transactions in the past three years as Securities America, and we continue to expand and refine our expertise in this market."
