AXA Group

AXA Financial and Merrill Lynch announced the execution of a definitive agreement for Merrill Lynch to purchase the Advest Group, Inc., a subsidiary of AXA Financial for $400 million. The acquisition is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter and is subject to normal regulatory approvals.

Advest, based in Hartford, Connecticut, comprises three primary businesses:

• Private Client Group (PCG) - has 515 financial advisors located in the Northeast, Midwest and Florida. The Private Client Group includes the New York and Florida-based Lebenthal retail municipal fixed income business.
• Boston Advisors - manages $3 billion in balanced, equity and fixed income portfolios for individuals and institutional investors.
• Capital Markets Group (CMG) - has a middle-markets and institutional capital markets division including equity, taxable income and municipal capital markets businesses.

"While Advest is an excellent company with a strong reputation in the marketplace, its business is better aligned with Merrill Lynch's Global Private Client Group. This transaction will provide Advest's financial professionals with a more complementary platform for growth. For AXA, this transaction allows us to reinvest in our strong core businesses of life insurance and annuities," said Christopher "Kip" Condron, president and chief executive of AXA Financial.