UBS agreed to acquire Charles Schwab's SoundView Capital Markets unit for $265 million in cash, both firms announced today. UBS will acquire Schwab's proprietary trading technology; institutional sales and trading business; over-the-counter, listed and Nasdaq market-making operations; and correspondent business. For the next eight years, UBS will handle Schwab's equity and listed options order flow. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval.
"The company has made the strategic decision to intensify its focus on Schwab's core business of serving individual investors and independent financial advisers who work with them," said Charles R. Schwab, Schwab chairman and CEO, in a news release. "The sale of our capital markets business reflects an important outcome of that decision."