Private-equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners announced that it will buy a majority stake in Foreside Financial Group, a 3rd-party provider of compliance and distribution services to B/D’s and RIAs. Foreside is based in Portland, ME, but has offices in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio. It currently distributes more than $800 billion of products through these financial services firms.

This is not Lovell Minnick’s first venture into financial services. Previously, it purchased a minority stake in Lincoln Investment Planning, which has about 800 advisors and it held a stake in tax-focused B/D, HD Vest, which was sold to Blucora. It also holds ownership stakes in some Foreside clients, such as 361 Capital, Chartwell Investment Partners and Matthews International Capital Management.

“Our relationship with Lovell Minnick goes back many years, and we share a strategic vision to achieve greater scale in our core distribution and compliance services for investment managers and their funds, both in the U.S. and offshore markets.” - - Foreside CEO Richard Berthy.