In a move designed to help build its international presence, online brokerage E*Trade Group Inc has signed a deal to acquire TIR Holdings Ltd, a Cayman Islands-based company that offers global multi-currency securities execution and settlement services, as well as independent research to institutional investors. Menlo Park, California-based E*Trade says the deal will allow it to make online trading in foreign securities accessible to retail, corporate and institutional investors.
Terms of the deal call for TIR shareholders to receive E*Trade common stock worth $122m. The transaction will be accounted for as a pooling of interests and E*Trade expects it to be accretive to earnings. TIR booked revenue of roughly $100m for the 12 months ended April 30. The company claims more than 600 institutional clients, is active in equity, fixed income and currency markets in more than 35 countries and holds seats on several stock exchanges around the world.
E*Trade had already begun work on its own international clearance-and-settlement system, called which it will now integrate with TIR’s backbone over the next year or so. The company says it plans to launch branded web sites in the top 20 financial markets worldwide. To date, it has launched services in Australia, Canada, France and Sweden, with UK and Japan web sites slated to be up and running before September 30.
