US institutional broker and market maker Knight Capital has acquired the assets and liabilities of the futures brokerage arm of Penson Financial Services for US$5 million in cash from parent Penson Worldwide.
Penson Futures provides futures execution, clearing and custody services to brokers, and non-clearing futures commission merchants trading on US and European futures exchanges. The firm also operates a retail electronic futures trading platform.
Knight’s CEO, Tom Joyce, said the purchase filled “a strategic gap” in the firm’s client suite of services. “We’re excited to extend our offering to include futures with a range of products from physical commodities to financial instruments by bringing aboard a quality team and applying our own considerable strengths.”
Penson Futures, which has memberships at 12 major futures exchanges and clearing houses across the US and Europe, will become a division of Knight Execution and Clearing Services, on completion of the acquisition.
In Q4 2011, Penson sold its Australian operations to BNY Mellon subsidiary Pershing, but closed its UK brokerage after failing to find a buyer.