Nov 21, 2019

Charles Schwab in talks to buy TD Ameritrade

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Charles Schwab is in talks to buy TD Ameritrade, according to multiple media reports this morning.

Why it matters: This would create a discount brokerage behemoth with over $5 trillion in assets under management.

  • The combined company would be just behind BlackRock ($6.9 trillion) and Vanguard ($5.6 trillion). Schwab already was in third place with $3.85 trillion but adding TD Ameritrade closes the gap quite a bit.

Market reax: TD Ameritrade stock jumped around 25% in early trading, giving it a $22.4 billion market cap, while Schwab moved mildly higher.

The big picture: Both Schwab and TD Ameritrade recently killed their online trading commissions, in an effort to blunt the rise of Robinhood, which this past summer was valued at $7.6 billion by venture capitalists.

Neither company is commenting, although both CNBC and Fox Business report that an official announcement could come as early as today.

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