UBS is selling up to 55 of its 406 UBS Wealth Management US branches in a move to focus on its high-net-worth clients and advisors.

The branches, which are sold to Stifel Financial, a US-based company, are located in 24 states and include about 320 financial advisors with approximately $15 billion in assets under management.

Stifel said it will pay $27 million in cash for the branches, according to a statement from the company. The deal will also comprise annual earn-out payments stretched over a two-year period, the statement said. The payments will vary and depend on the number of offices that Stifel acquires. Stifel has about 1,368 brokers who average about $400,000 in production.

"The transaction is beneficial to both firms. It positions UBS to continue to gain market share in strategic markets which are key to our long-term growth," Jamie Price, head of UBS Wealth Management Advisor Group, Americas, said in the same statement.

The deal is subject to certain regulatory approvals.

“The addition of these UBS branches represents a unique strategic fit. The addition of this talented group of professionals furthers our effort to meet our goal of expanding across the country,” Ronald Kruszewski, chief executive and chairman, said.

Stifel, based in St Louis, has been beefing up its wealth management ranks as a result of the financial crisis hitting larger brokerages harder, causing some advisors to flee the Wall Street mentality for a more regional firm such as Stifel.

The business was also able to attract many former AG Edwards advisers when Wachovia, the US bank now part of Wells Fargo, acquired AG Edwards, which is also based in St Louis, in June 2007.

Despite the sale, UBS will continue recruiting efforts to bring in high-producing brokers, according to a person close to the situation as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.