Advisory M&A News – 3/25/24

Kingswood, Wentworth Announce Merger to Form Binah Capital Group

Kingswood Acquisition Corp. announced its merger with Wentworth Management Services LLC, creating Binah Capital Group Inc., an independent wealth management enterprise that will become a publicly traded company.

The newly launched entity will be listed on the NASDAQ Global Market, trading under the ticker NASDAQ: BCG. The transaction’s completion enables Wentworth, a broker/dealer aggregator, to go public, with KWAC and Wentworth wholly owned subsidiaries of Binah Capital Group Inc. 

The company has a pro forma enterprise value of $208 million and encompasses approximately 1,900 individuals working within the financial services industries and approximately $23 billion in assets under management.

Craig Gould, who served as president of Wentworth, has been named CEO of Binah Capital, and David Shane, former chief financial officer at Sanctuary Wealth, has been named chief financial officer. The company’s executive management team, which will report to Gould and Shane, is comprised of Wentworth’s C-suite team.

Osaic Adds Father/Daughter Duo

Osaic Wealth Inc., a provider of wealth management services, added Kings Mill Wealth Advisors, a father-daughter team of Marvin Rauchbach of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Leigh Ritchey of Baltimore, to the Osaic platform. Kings Mill, which just launched in February, brings more than $280 million in total client assets to Osaic.

“We are thrilled [Marvin and Leigh] chose Osaic as their partner so we can help them build their business in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast,” said Kristen Kimmell, Osaic’s executive vice president of business development, in a statement. “We look forward to supporting their success for years to come.”

With more than 50 years of combined experience, Rauchbach and Ritchey provides services such as retirement and estate planning, asset allocation and portfolio management, tax planning, cashflow analysis and charitable giving.

OneDigital Acquires Creative Business Resources

OneDigital has acquired Creative Business Resources, an HR outsourcing firm in Phoenix. The addition of CBR expands the OneDigital Resourcing Edge portfolio to the Arizona area.

CBR is a provider of customized outsourced human resources, employee benefits, retirement plans, risk management and payroll services to small-to-medium-sized businesses throughout the Southwest.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Michael to our management team as we expand our PEO solutions within the western region,” said Ted Crawford, president of OneDigital Resourcing Edge, in a statement. “Together with the entire CBR team, OneDigital’s fast-growing PEO solution will continue to serve SMBs with unmatched expertise and innovation.”

Michael Tope, CBR’s founder, joins OneDigital Resourcing Edge as its West region vice president. In addition, more than 40 CBR employees in Phoenix and Idaho Falls, Idaho, have joined OneDigital.