Charles Schwab is buying TD Ameritrade for $26 billion, with a deal expected to be announced Thursday morning, Fox Business reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
Shares in Charles Schwab reversed an earlier decline in pre-market trading and are up 2.4%, while TD Ameritrade reduced some of the earlier gains and is up 17%. Both companies didn’t immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.
A deal would create a firm with roughly $5 trillion in combined assets, consolidating an industry under pressure from a price war that escalated when Schwab last month announced plans to eliminate commissions for U.S. stocks, ETFs and options.
The move forced other brokerages to follow suit and triggered a slump in the shares of such firms, with TD Ameritrade among the hardest hit.
TD Ameritrade has lost 11% since then, valuing the company at $22 billion. Schwab gained 7% in the same period, giving it a stock market value of $57 billion.
Bloomberg News
