As expected, Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) just announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire KCG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:KCG). The move has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each company. Virtu has agreed to acquire KCG in a cash transaction valued at $20.00 per KCG share, or a total of approximately $1.4 billion.
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“KCG fits perfectly with Virtu’s strategic priorities to apply our market making and technological expertise to customer wholesale order flow and expand Virtu’s growing agency Execution business by offering clients a combination of Virtu and KCG’s superior algorithms and proprietary analytical tools. In addition, there is immediate opportunity for revenue growth and significant cost savings," said Douglas A. Cifu, Virtu’s Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Cifu continued, "Virtu and KCG both have a heritage of using technology to make markets more efficient. The combination of talented, dedicated professionals from KCG and Virtu will allow us to achieve more together than either firm could achieve alone.”
Within two years of the completion of the transaction, Virtu expects to realize approximately $208 million of net pre-tax expense savings, in addition to $440 million of capital synergies.
Virtu intends to fund the cash transaction and debt refinancing with new gross borrowings of $1.65 billion and the sale of $750 million of common stock, priced at $15.60 per share. Virtu has entered into a commitment with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, to provide up to $1.65 billion of debt financing for the transaction.
