Dallas wealth administration firm acquires New Jersey agency with $1.1 billion in property

Avantax, the Dallas-based asset management division of Blucora, has agreed to acquire New Jersey-based financial advisory firm Headquarters Advisory Group to expand its presence in the United States.

Headquarters Advisory manages $ 1.1 billion in assets. Avantax’s wealth management office had $ 85 billion in client assets at the end of March.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of September. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Blucora’s businesses include Avantax Wealth Management and Avantax Planning Partners, formerly HK Financial Services. The tax software includes TaxAct, one of the most popular do-it-yourself programs for filing federal tax returns.

Upon completion of the transaction, Headquarters Advisory partners Samuel Angelo, John Crowe and Michele Lee will work as financial planning advisors with Avantax Planning Partners, which uses tax professionals to create bespoke plans.

Avantax Planning Partners recently expanded to the West Coast with Davin Carey, the regional vice president in Southern California. Avantax has over 3,750 independent financial professionals nationwide.

Parent company Blucora posted annual sales of $ 755 million last year, up 5% year over year. Sales this year are estimated at over $ 865 million, according to an investor presentation in June.

At the beginning of the year, the company had to defend the synergies of its two business areas Avantax Wealth Management and Avantax Planning Partners. Ancora, which holds about 3.4% of the shares in Blucora, said it believed the company would be better off without the tax business.