Prudential closes $4.5 bln brokerage stake sale

* Expects $1.5 bln gain from sale

NEW YORK, Dec 31 - Prudential Financial Inc(PRU.N) said on Thursday it completed the planned sale of itsminority stake in a retail brokerage to Wells Fargo & Co(WFC.N) for $4.5 billion in cash.

The second-largest U.S. life insurer also received $418.4 million in principal and interest on a note connected to the joint venture, according to a regulatory filing.

San Francisco-based bank Wells Fargo inherited a majority stake in the joint venture, originally agreed between Wachovia and Prudential, when it acquired Wachovia last year. Prudential said earlier this month in a filing that it expected a gain on the sale of about $2.3 billion before tax, or $1.5 billion after tax.

Shares of Prudential were down 14 cents or 0.3 percent at $50.40 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

 (Reporting by Elinor Comlay, editing by Matthew Lewis)