(Source: Business Wire)Lightyear Capital LLC ("Lightyear"), a New York-based private equity firm focused on financial services investing, today announced that an affiliate of Lightyear Fund II, L.P. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the ING Advisor Network and three of ING Advisor Network's five broker-dealers, including: Financial Network Investment Corporation ("Financial Network"), Multi-Financial Securities Corporation ("Multi-Financial") and PrimeVest Financial Services Inc. ("PrimeVest"). Valerie Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ING Advisor Network, will remain in her position and continue to lead the business post acquisition.

"This is a great investment for Lightyear," said Donald B. Marron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lightyear. "We have decades of experience and leadership in the broker-dealer industry and recognize the current and future potential of this network of broker-dealers. Financial Network, Multi-Financial and PrimeVest are excellent organizations with teams of highly-motivated and talented advisors."

Mark Vassallo, Managing Partner of Lightyear, stated, "We believe there is a great opportunity for these three firms going forward as an independent network and are committed to growing the business. We are seeing more customers and advisors migrate toward smaller, more nimble and personalized brokerage firms, and we believe these three businesses will benefit from this trend."

Operating independently under the umbrella of ING Advisor Network, Financial Network, Multi-Financial and PrimeVest had combined gross revenues for the twelve months ending June 30, 2009 of approximately $653 million with account assets of $70.2 billion and roughly 5,700 representatives as of June 30, 2009.

"As CEO of ING Advisor Network, Valerie Brown has done an excellent job in recruiting and retaining top talent and building a strong culture of customer service. We are pleased that Valerie and her team will continue to lead this effort," added Stewart Gross, Managing Director of Lightyear."

"Lightyear has a long and successful track record investing in the financial services industry and particularly significant experience in the broker-dealer space. We are excited to have such a strong investment partner to help us grow our business," said Valerie Brown. "Lightyear recognizes the value of independent advice and shares our commitment to building the highest quality firm in the independent broker-dealer industry."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.