Liquidnet is buying agency brokerage firm Miletus Trading, which provides quantitative execution strategies and analytics to institutional investors. Terms were not disclosed; The deal is expected to close in March, pending regulatory approval. Putnam Lovell NBF Securities served as financial adviser to Miletus, while agency crossing network Liquidnet did not have an adviser.
The acquisition will allow Liquidnet to "introduce the next-generation institutional trading model," Liquidnet CEO Seth Merrin said in an interview. He declined to elaborate on the trading model or new products that the two firms would develop.
Michael Capelli, Miletus co-founder and managing director, said his firm's "underlying analytics are driving the strategies that makes Miletus unique vs. its competitors." He expected Liquidnet to fully leverage Miletus' technology, which would allow institutional investors to better use Liquidnet's access to 2 billion shares a day plus another 1.5 billion shares in Liquidnet's H2O initiative with streaming partners from the brokerage side.
