Further consolidating its global empire, E*TRADE Thursday said it has acquired all the outstanding shares in
E*TRADE UK.
Shareowners of E*TRADE UK will receive 3.8 million shares of
E*TRADE common stock as a result of the agreement.
When launched in July last year, E*TRADE UK was a joint venture
between E*TRADE Group (EGRP) in the U.S. and Electronic Share Information (ESI)
in the U.K. It will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, offering
online financial services to the U.K. market.
“The UK is a major European market and a magnet for foreign investment, and
is therefore a crucial component of E*TRADE’s global business strategy,”
said Judy Balint, chief international officer of E*TRADE Group.
Balint went to say that the acquisition of E*TRADE UK was a critical step
toward the goal of building the first global cross-border trading network
for online investors.
With 12 million private investors, the U.K. is a key market for any
player in the online investment industry. One of the top names in
this industry in the U.S., E*TRADE is clearly taking the U.K. market
very seriously.
Online trading in the U.K. tripled during the third quarter of 1999,
according to a recent survey by APCIMS/ComPeer. There is still room
for expansion, as Fletcher Internet Research Group reported that
over 4.2 million U.K. homes were connected to the Internet during
1999.
E*TRADE has expanded its cross-border trading network rapidly in
recent months. In November last year it acquired all of
E*TRADE @ NetBourse, which serves Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg,
Austria, Italy and France, while also forming other strategic joint
ventures in Germany, Denmark, Norway, and South Africa.
One of E*TRADE’s largest acquisitions has been its purchase
of international financial services company TIR Holdings Ltd.
in August of last year. It said the acquisition was already advancing
its goal to make global securities trading accessible to
retail, corporate and institutional investors alike.
E*TRADE today also closed its merger with online bank Telebanc Financial Corp.
