US online brokerage Ameritrade is to acquire Oregon-based brokerage firm Bidwell & Company.
Bidwell has 61 employees, two branch offices in Oregon and transacts most of its self-directed retail business online. The company has approximately 100,000 accounts and $5 billion in customer assets. Bidwell Institutional Services, a division of Bidwell & Company, serves 88 investment advisors.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2004, subject to regulatory approval, and will be funded from available cash. No further financial details have been disclosed.
For Ameritrade, this latest transaction follows last month's agreement to acquire the accounts of BrokerageAmerica, the acquisition of the accounts of Mydiscountbroker.com in June 2003, last year's merger with Datek Online and the 2001 acquisition of National Discount Brokers Corporation.