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Online Brokerage TD Ameritrade Is Acquiring Scottrade

Published: Oct 24, 2016 2 min read

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The TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. Headquarters As $4 Billion Scottrade Financial Services Inc. Deal Nears Closing
TD Ameritrade will acquire Scottrade for $4 billion.
Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

TD Ameritrade and TD Bank (which owns a significant portion of TD Ameritrade) will acquire Scottrade Financial in a $4 billion deal, TD announced in a press release. The deal will reportedly happen in two parts, and will close by Sept. 30, 2017, according to Reuters.

Well before online brokers like Wealthfront and Betterment, the low-cost brokerages democratized stock trading for everyday investors by providing low trading fees and making it easier for anyone to place a trade from their home computer. TD Bank will first purchase Scottrade Bank for $1.3 billion, and TD Ameritrade will concurrently purchase Scottrade Financial Services (the brokerage arm) for a reported $2.7 billion.

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The merger comes at a time when everyday investors are shifting away from active trading and into more passive investment vehicles. As Money previously reported, passive mutual funds and ETFs have gained more than $1 trillion over the past three years as investors move out of more actively-traded investments.

The companies had 600,000 average client trades a day and $944 billion in client assets in the year ending Sept. 30, 2016.