Penson sells Australian ops to BNY Mellon

Penson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNSN) and BNY Mellon Company (NYSE: BK) announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Penson's Australian subsidiary, Penson Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd (PFSA) in a share purchase transaction for the purchase price of approximately AUD $33 million. PFSA will become an affiliate of Pershing, a BNY Mellon company.

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Penson will realize a gain of approximately USD $14 million from the sale. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"We are pleased to have reached agreement with a firm committed to continue to provide PFSA's correspondents with the high level of service to which they have been accustomed, while also continuing to provide access to Australian markets for Penson correspondents," said Philip A. Pendergraft, Chief Executive Officer of Penson.

The sale of PFSA continues Penson's implementation of the series of initiatives which it announced on August 4, 2011. These initiatives are designed to reduce costs and debt, increase profitability and capital, and better position Penson for growth. Other recently concluded strategic initiatives include the completion of the combination of Penson's U.S. broker-dealer and U.S. futures businesses into a single entity, thereby facilitating more efficient use of capital and infrastructure, and the expansion of the scope of Penson's Master Services Agreement with Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

PFSA, which provides clearing services in Australia, holds an Australian Financial Services License and is a market, ACH Clearing and ASTC settlement participant of the Australian Stock Exchange and a trading participant of Chi-X Australia Limited.

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