FILE PHOTO - A Specialist trader for Virtu Financial works at a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange April 16, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (Reuters) - High-speed trading firm Virtu Financial Inc (VIRT.O) is buying independent brokerage Investment Technology Group Inc (ITG) ITG.N for about $1 billion, ITG said on Wednesday as Virtu looks to add more big institutional investors. ITG shareholders will receive $30.30 in cash for each share, representing a premium of 9 percent to the stock’s Tuesday closing price. The offer also represents a 40 percent premium since reports of a deal first surfaced in October. Virtu last year bought rival high-frequency trader KCG Holdings Inc, allowing it to execute orders for retail brokerages. (bit.ly/2tikRlz) Virtu’s shares rose 6.5 pct to $26.24 in premarket trading. Shares of ITG, which on Wednesday also reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, were trading flat. J.P. Morgan was the financial adviser to ITG and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz its legal adviser. (This story corrects to fix Reuters Instrument Code for ITG) Reporting by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Arun Koyyur
Virtu Financial is paying $1bn for rival brokerage ITG as it seeks to develop relationships with more big institutional investors. The US digital market maker agreed to pay a 9% premium to the previous day’s closing price, and a 40% premium to the price before reports of a possible deal first broke in October.