Chicago-headquartered RIA, broker-dealer (BD) and insurance firm Arete Wealth is set to snap up Center Street Securities in the first quarter of this year.

Financial details of the deal were not divulged.

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Nashville-based Center Street is a securities broker-dealer, which manages $1.04bn in client assets.

Founded in 1990 as Elliott Financial Services, the firm was acquired by existing CEO Jack Thacker in 2007 and rebranded.

The acquisition will take Arete Wealth’s assets under management to $5.5bn and provide it with 265 registered representatives across the US, representing a 75% growth in reps.

Additionally, the deal is said to bolster the company’s revenue by 40%.

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Speaking on the purchase, Arete Wealth founder and CEO Joshua Rogers said: “Center Street is the perfect complement to Arete Wealth for many reasons. Among them, we both share a strong belief in endowment-style investing for our high-net worth clients.

“Arete Wealth specialises in bespoke alternative investments and adding Center Street’s strength in this area to our industry-leading position makes us the premier choice for alternative investment prowess.”

Thacker added: “Joining Arete Wealth ensures Center Street continues to deliver top-notch support to our advisers and clients while leveraging Arete’s deep due diligence in alternative investments, a seasoned regulatory compliance team, and advanced advising technology solutions.”

Upon deal closing, the unified company expects to distribute around a quarter billion dollars in alternative investments this year based on previous years’ performance.

The two firms plan to strategically combine their entities throughout this year. The combined group will adopt the ‘Arete Wealth’ brand.

At present, Arete Wealth offers investments and services through a network of 100 offices and 265 registered advisers across the US.

Last week, Georgia-based hybrid RIA Merit Financial Group received an investment from Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG) and a group of supporting investors led by HGGC to drive growth.