The Nasdaq Stock Market is to buy the Brut ECN from SunGard in an all-cash transaction for $190 million.
The US exchange says the acquisition will position it for forthcoming market structure changes being contemplated by regulators by providing Nasdaq with the ability to route orders via an internal broker-dealer to multiple liquidity pools. It will also improve FIX connectivity.
In addition, Nasdaq says it will enter into a multi-year agreement with SunGard for the continued processing of Brut trades via the vendor's Phase3 transaction processing system.