"TD Ameritrade reached a deal to acquire rival stock brokerage firm Scottrade for a mix of cash and stock that the companies said was worth $4 billion. The agreement involves multiple transactions in which TD Ameritrade will first acquire Scottrade Bank for $1.3 billion, then acquire Scottrade Financial Services for $2.7 billion. Collectively, the companies handled an average of 600,000 client trades per day, $944 billion in client assets and 10 million funded client accounts in the 12 months ended Sept. 30....To squeeze out excess costs, they'll rack up $550 million in "restructuring related charges," including costs associated with employee severance, according to the presentation. The company said it had identified the opportunity for $450 million in annual "expense synergies," which often includes cost cuts and combined purchasing power in corporate mergers, including 25% that can be achieved within the first year of the deal. The rest would occur in the second year. TD Ameritrade said it expects an additional $300 million in "longer-term opportunities," without offering specifics. The companies said they expect the deal to close by the end of September 2017." #financial_firms #finance_industry #stock_market #stock_brokers #acquisitions #pub