Investment bank Stifel Financial (SF 2.96%) is buying Knight Capital Group's (NYSE: KCG) institutional fixed income sales and trading business, the companies announced Friday. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the companies did say that the transaction is expected to close in Q2.
Along with the business per se, Stifel is hiring Knight's entire European institutional fixed-income sales and trading team, which, when brought in house, will give Stifel a total of 60 bond and mortgage-backed securities traders in the U.S., and another 40 in Europe.
Knight Capital narrowly avoided bankruptcy last year, after getting caught wrong-footed when a software trading glitch cost it more than $400 million in trading losses. The company is in the process of selling itself to electronic trading firm Getco Holdings.
Knight shares are trading 0.3% lower on today's news, at $3.73. Stifel shares are similarly down 0.3%, at $36.56.
