LPL Financial Holdings has agreed to acquire National Planning Holdings from Jackson National Life Insurance. The transaction is structured as an asset sale, which includes substantially all of the business of the network, for an initial purchase price of $325 million. Following a successful transition of NPH’s financial advisors and clients to LPL, the purchase price may increase to a maximum of approximately $448 million. The transition period is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

According to William Blair analyst Chris Shutler:

• PROS:   The acquisition provides LPL with even more scale, resulting in back-office efficiencies and substantial potential cost savings from moving NPH's 4 broker-dealers to LPL's clearing platform (and away from Fidelity's NFS and Pershing). Two of the underlying B/D’s - INVEST and Investment Centers of America - have a focus on the bank and credit union space, which is important to LPL. The other 2 B/D’s - National Planning Corporation and SII - are more traditional independent firms.

• CONS.    The deal does not appear to help LPL's business mix or growth prospects. NPH has been losing advisors, only 25% of its assets are fee-based (versus 44% at LPL as of 6/30/17), and its assets per advisor are in line with to slightly lower than LPL's. NPH's revenue from parent company Jackson National has declined from $106 million (11% of total) in 2014 to $57 million (6% of total) in 2016. 

ABOUT NATIONAL PLANNING HOLDINGS.   A broker-dealer holding company and an affiliate of Lansing, MI-based Jackson National Life Insurance. NPH serves as the holding company for the independent broker-dealers: (i) INVEST Financial Corporation; (ii) Investment Centers of America; (iii) National Planning Corporation; and, (iv) SII Investments As of 6/30/17, the member firms of the NPH network supported more than 3,200 advisors across the country with over 1.5 million customer accounts and approximately $124 billion in assets under management.

NPH and Jackson are wholly owned by Prudential plc, a company incorporated in England and Wales. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, a company whose principal place of business is in the U.S.A.

ABOUT LPL FINANCIAL.    A wholly-owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings, it is a leader in the retail financial advice market and provided service to approximately $542 billion in brokerage and advisory assets as of 6/30/17. LPL provides proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 14,000 financial advisors and over 700 financial institutions, enabling them to provide a range of financial services including wealth management, retirement planning, financial planning and other investment services to help their clients turn life’s aspirations into financial realities.

As of 6/30/17, financial advisors associated with LPL served more than 4 million client accounts across the U.S. as well as an estimated 46,000 retirement plans with an estimated $138 billion in retirement plan assets. Additionally, LPL supports approximately 3,700 financial advisors licensed and affiliated with insurance companies with customized clearing, advisory platforms, and technology solutions. LPL and its affiliates have more than 3,400 employees with primary offices in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego.  [Business Wire]