Online brokerage E*Trade Financial Corp. said on Thursday it would buy BrownCo from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. for $1.6 billion, its second major acquisition in the rapidly consolidating discount brokerage business since August.
The deal is expected to generate about $91 million in cost savings and $63 million in added revenue, adding about 7 cents per share to E*Trade earnings within a year after it closes. The transaction will bring E*Trade’s net customer assets to about $160 billion, and the company expects customer accounts to total about 4.3 million.
