After substantial expansion under two earlier outside investors, the hybrid RIA is targeting double-digit gains with a new strategic partner.

Engine Capital, an activist hedge fund in the stock, called on Avantax to explore a sale last month, saying it could fetch as much as $32 per share amid rapid consolidation in asset management.

Amid a low tide of deals, the giants continue to identify RIAs and other firms giving them more scale and new capabilities.

The deal, a mix of cash and equity, will expand the RIA consolidator's growing service offerings to clients.

Advisors seeking to sell their firms will find buyers that are increasingly focused on larger practices.

As deal volumes pick back up from the lower numbers late last year, a lawyer advising sellers says that negotiations are getting longer and more complex.

Deals are bigger, quicker and more common. But buyers say valuation expectations often cause them to leave the table.

The marketplace for buyers and sellers is changing as advisory practices consider transactions that could alter their firms on a permanent basis.

Despite macroeconomic challenges and a decade of record deal volumes, Cerulli Associates says the channel remains ripe for further investments.

The decline is expected to come from client outflows, overlap between the two banks and cost savings.