Ameritrade, Inc., a subsidiary of Ameritrade Holding Corporation, continues to expand via acquisition. The company has agreed to purchase the online retail accounts of JB Oxford & Company, marking Ameritrades 7th acquisition since 2001.
The addition of JB Oxfords retail business will add 50,000 accounts to Ameritrades count, which totaled 3,475,000 at the end of May 2004. Of the 50,000 accounts purchased, 27,000 are considered “qualified accounts,” having $2,000 or more in cash or assets.
The purchase price will not exceed $26 million, and pending regulatory approval approval of JB Oxford Holdings, Inc. shareholders, the transaction is expected to close this summer.
This transaction follows Ameritrades recent acquisition of Bidwell & Company in January 2004 and acquisition of accounts from BrokerageAmerica in February 2004. Ameritrade also purchased 3,000 retail accounts from Investex Securities Group, Inc in May 2004. In 2002, Ameritrade merged its online business with Datek, then bought the accounts of Mydiscountbroker.com in 2003.
“Participating in seven M&A deals in our industry since early 2001, we continue to prove our ability to identify valuable opportunities for clients and shareholders,” said Joe Moglia, chief executive officer of Ameritrade.