Prudential Plc Sells Broker-dealer Network In US For $325 Mln Initial Price

(RTTNews) - Prudential plc (PRU.L), a British financial services group, Wednesday announced the sale of broker-dealer network in the US.

The company said it has sold, through its subsidiary National Planning Holdings, Inc. or NPH its US independent broker-dealer network to LPL Financial LLC, the largest independent broker-dealer in the US.

The network consists of INVEST Financial Corp., Investment Centers of America, Inc., National Planning Corporation and SII Investments, Inc. The transaction is structured as an asset sale, which includes substantially all the business of the network, for an initial purchase price of $325 million, which may increase to a maximum of approximately $448 million subject to certain transition criteria.

The transaction has closed after receiving all necessary regulatory approvals and the transition is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Barry Stowe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Prudential plc's North American Business Unit, said, "While we still very much believe in the independent broker-dealer model, our primary strategy in North America is to focus on being the leading manufacturer of retirement products. The transaction with LPL Financial provides us with a compelling opportunity to divest our ownership in the NPH network to a leading independent broker-dealer well suited to support financial advisors and their retail clients going forward."