US trading systems vendor Nyfix is set to cut 40% of its workforce ahead of its $144 million sale to Nyse Euronext.
Plans filed with the New York Labor Department reveal the vendor will lay off 71 of its 180 staff in December, citing "merger expected" as the reason for "dislocation".
The Nyse Euronext takeover is expected to close in the fourth quarter after the exchange, through its technology unit, signed a definitive agreement to pay $1.675 per share of common stock for Nyfix, a 95% premium on the previous day's closing price.
Earlier in August the vendor posted a Q2 net loss of $3.8 million, although this was an improvement on a $6.8 million loss for the same period the previous year. The previous June it cut 10% of its global workforce in a bid to reduce annual costs by $5 million in the face of significant losses.