NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lightyear Capital LLC (“Lightyear”), a New York-based private equity firm focused on financial services, announced today that investment funds affiliated with Lightyear and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (“PSP Investments”), one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers, have completed the sale of Advisor Group, Inc (“Advisor Group”) to Reverence Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Lightyear’s affiliated investment funds and PSP Investments acquired Advisor Group from AIG in May 2016. Since that time, client assets under administration have grown more than 73 percent from $157 billion at the time of purchase to $272 billion today. Over the same period of time, Advisor Group has grown from 5,200 financial advisors to more than 7,000 financial advisors, which has been driven by strong recruiting results as well as several strategic acquisitions, including Capital One Investing, Signator Investors, and Questar Capital Corporation.
“We are delighted with this outcome at Advisor Group,” said Mark F. Vassallo, Managing Partner of Lightyear. “Working with Valerie Brown, Jamie Price and the entire management team over these last three years has led to dramatic growth and expansion at Advisor Group, results everyone can be very proud of. We are confident in the management’s ability to continue to build on the company’s success in the market.”
“We are proud to have supported Advisor Group through a period of exceptional growth and operational transformation,” said Simon Marc, Managing Director and Head of Private Equity at PSP Investments. “PSP Investments has a track-record for being a partner of choice for world-class entrepreneurs and leading private equity firms. Our partnership with Lightyear Capital, Valerie Brown, Jamie Price, and Advisor Group’s talented management team has been very successful for all its stakeholders.”
“We want to thank both Lightyear and PSP Investments for their support, partnership and investment in the meaningful growth of our business. We look forward to the next phase of growth for Advisor Group,” said Jamie Price, Chief Executive Officer of Advisor Group.
Barclays Capital Inc. acted as lead financial advisor to the Company. RBC Capital Markets, LLC and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. also provided financial advice to the Company. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to the Company.
About Lightyear Capital LLC
Founded in 2000, Lightyear is a financial services-focused private equity firm based in New York. Through its affiliated private equity funds, Lightyear makes primarily control investments in North America-based, middle-market companies across the financial services spectrum, including financial technology, asset and wealth management, healthcare financial services, insurance and insurance services, payments and processing, and specialty finance. Lightyear brings focus and discipline to its investment process, as well as operating, transaction and strategic management experience, along with significant contacts and resources beyond capital. For more information, please visit www.lycap.com.
About PSP Investments
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers with CAD$168 billion of net assets as of March 31, 2019. It manages a diversified global portfolio of investments in public financial markets, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and private debt. Established in 1999, PSP Investments manages net contributions to the pension funds of the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force. Headquartered in Ottawa, PSP Investments has its principal business office in Montreal and offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. For more information, visit investpsp.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
