The acquisition will give Lightspeed ownership of Lime's Ireland broker/dealer license and represents Lightspeed's first foray overseas as it seeks to provide individuals throughout the entire European Union access the U.S. equities markets through Lightspeed's flagship trading platform, Lightspeed Trader, along with its automated trading solution, Lightspeed Gateway.

"We see tremendous long-term growth opportunities for investors in Europe who want direct and immediate access to the liquid, vibrant U.S. equities markets," said Stephen Ehrlich, chief executive officer, Lightspeed Financial, Inc. "Since our inception, we have remained squarely focused on taking incremental, measured steps to grow our business in a way that that makes the most strategic sense to ensure the long-term success of our company. We believe there is a strong appetite from individuals in Europe who want to take control of their financial futures and diversify their investment portfolios by trading U.S. equities."

Ehrlich continued, "We view this deal as the first step in an effort to begin broadening awareness of Lightspeed internationally and to eventually make our suite of trading solutions available to individuals throughout the entire European Union. Our proven technology will give them the speed, stability and reliability they need to trade the U.S equities markets even during the most challenging, volatile conditions. We are certain this strategic acquisition will prove to be an important growth driver for Lightspeed in the months and years ahead."

The acquisition of Lime Brokerage International (Ireland) Limited is Lightspeed's sixth transaction since its inception in July 2006 and follows the recent acquisitions of Terra Nova Financial and the perpetual license to operate the Anvil trading platform in June 2010.

Rosenblatt Securities advised Lightspeed on the transaction.