Charles Schwab is buying rival TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion stock swap, a blockbuster agreement accelerated by massive disruption in the online brokerage industry.
Competitive pressure has already forced brokerages to make it free for customers to trade U.S. stocks online, and Schwab’s buyout combines two of the biggest players in the industry.
The tie-up creates a company so big, however, that it may draw sharp scrutiny from antitrust regulators. The combined company would have more than $5 trillion in client assets under management.
“With this transaction, we will capitalize on the unique opportunity to build a firm with the soul of a challenger and the resources of a large financial services institution that will be uniquely positioned to serve the investment, trading and wealth management needs of investors across every phase of their financial journeys,” Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said in a prepared statement.
TD Ameritrade stockholders would receive 1.0837 Schwab shares for each TD Ameritrade share they own.