NEW YORK CITY—RCS Capital Corp. saidTuesday that it had closed on its all-cash, $1.15-billionacquisition of Cetera Financial Group fromaffiliates of Lightyear Capital. ValerieBrown, CEO of El Segundo, CA-based Cetera, has been namedhead of RCAP's new retail advice platform, which will consist ofCetera and First Allied Securities along with other brands still tojoin the fold.

First announced in January, the deal creates the second largestindependent financial advisor network in the US, adding some 6,632financial advisors and bringing RCAP's retail financial advisoryplatform to about 9,000 advisors. It gives RCAP a footprint in all50 states along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, andbolsters its ability to serve some 2.5 million mass-affluent andhigh-net-worth investors by constructing durable investmentstrategies within a diversified investment portfolio.

Nicholas Schorsch, RCAP's executive chairman,calls the deal “a watershed event for RCS Capital and the industryas a whole. Cetera will become the centerpiece of our financialservices strategy to construct and operate the best independentfinancial retail advice platform in the industry, and act as thehub of our integrated broker-dealer strategy.”