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Ladenburg Thalmann, which owns a group of independent broker-dealers with about 4,500 advisors, is in talks with possible buyer Advisor Group, according to Bloomberg News, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Ladenburg's IBDs are Securities America, Triad Advisors, Investacorp, Securities Service Network and KMS Financial Services. Advisor Group, which has about 7,000 advisors, includes FSC Securities, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial and Woodbury Financial Services.
If combined, the two entities might encompass as many as 11,500 advisors and nine IBDs — putting it ahead of Raymond James but behind LPL Financial in terms of a total advisor headcount. Representatives for Advisor Group and Ladenburg could not be reached for comments as of press time.
"This is not a surprise given industry consolidation," said Tim Welsh, head of the consultancy Next Strategy.
