Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Fri, October 22, 2010
Thu, October 21, 2010 Lightspeed Financial Completes Acquisition of Terra Nova Financial
NEW YORK & CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Lightspeed Financial, Inc., a leading provider of direct market access trading technology, risk management solutions, and brokerage services for professional retail active traders and institutional investors, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of 100% of the membership interest of Terra Nova Financial, LLC (aTerra Nova Financiala), a wholly owned subsidiary of Terra Nova Financial Group, Inc. (OTCBB: TNFG). Concurrent with the closing of the transaction, Terra Nova Financial Group, Inc. is changing its name to TNFG Corporation as approved by the companya™s shareholders at a special meeting held on September 15, 2010.
The acquisition brings the total Lightspeed client base to more than 7,500 active traders executing an average of over 220 million equity shares per day with total client assets exceeding $1.35 billion.
As previously announced, the purchase price of $27.6 million consists of an initial cash payment of $22.6 million and a $5.0 million promissory note bearing interest at a rate of 8% and due within six months of closing or the earlier release of clearing deposits held by Terra Novaa™s clearing organizations.
Stephen Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer, Lightspeed Financial, Inc., said, aBringing the Terra Nova client base under the Lightspeed Financial umbrella furthers our pursuit to unify this fragmented active trading segment of the market, which is still peppered with too many brokers that either dona™t have the resources or lack the commitment to deliver the professional-grade level of service and client support that individuals need to help them trade with success in todaya™s challenging markets.a
Ehrlich added, aIn addition to increasing our share of the market, this acquisition really puts Lightspeed in the pole position to deliver our proven trading tools and technology, superior customer service and competitive pricing to an even greater number of individuals who trade for a living or trade to supplement their income. Wea™ve worked hard to have assumed the role as the active trading industrya™s consolidator of choice, which is a testament to our proven ability to seamlessly and swiftly integrate clients into our trading infrastructure and environment after an acquisition. As a result, more and more retail-focused firms looking to exit the equity and derivatives spaces are taking notice of our efforts here. We are always open to discussions about possible future combinations where it makes strategic sense for our business and our clients.a
Lightspeed has completed five successful transactions in the active trading industry since its inception over four years ago and three this year alone. Past transactions include the acquisitions of retail trading firms Schonfeld & Company, LLC, Integrity Trading Inc, NobleTrading, and a deal this past June that gave Lightspeed the exclusive license for the Anvil trading software, which was previously available through Assent LLC.
About Lightspeed Financial, Inc.
Headquartered in New York City, Lightspeed Financial operates through three wholly-owned subsidiaries:
Lightspeed Trading, LLC operates as a fully disclosed introducing broker-dealer and FINRA and NFA member. The Company offers securities and direct access brokerage, trading and advanced order routing services to their clients utilizing Lightspeed's software products.
Lightspeed Technologies, LLC serves as the Company's technology development subsidiary. Lightspeed develops and operates Lightspeed Trader, Lightspeeda™s Direct Market Access trading software application; Lightspeed Gateway, Lightspeed algorithmic trading offering; Lightspeed Risk, a real-time risk management application; and Lightspeed Admin, Middle Office Technology suite. Utilizing a number of proprietary technologies, Lightspeed offers these products and more to broker-dealers, institutional entities and professional traders.
Lightspeed Education, LLC delivers educational products to the Lightspeed Trading, LLC customer community. These products include third party educational tools, webinars and the Lightspeed Spotlight social community. [ www.lightspeed.com ]
Lightspeed Financial, Lightspeed Technologies, Lightspeed Trading, Lightspeed Education and the Lightspeed logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lightspeed Financial, Inc.
© 2010 Lightspeed Financial, Inc. All rights reserved.
About TNFG Corporation, formerly Terra Nova Financial Group, Inc.
TNFG Corporation trades under the stock symbol aTNFGa and is listed on the OTC Bulletin Board.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this release may constitute aforward-lookinga statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and other laws and regulations. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and other important factors that could cause the actual results or performance of the company to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking language, such as the words aplan,a abelieve,a awill,a aexpect,a aanticipate,a aintend,a aproject,a or other similar words, or the negative of these terms or comparable language, or by discussion of strategy or intentions. This cautionary statement is being made pursuant to applicable securities laws with the intention of obtaining the benefits of the asafe harbora provisions of such laws. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements made by the Company are not guarantees or indicative of future performance and are qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally, and also may materially differ from actual future experience involving any one or more of such matters. Such risks and uncertainties include: any conditions imposed on the parties in connection with consummation of the transactions described herein; the ability to obtain regulatory approvals of the transaction on the proposed terms and schedule; approval of the transaction by the Companya™s stockholders; disruption from the transactions making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; satisfaction of various other conditions to the closing of the transactions described herein; and the risks that are described from time to time in our reports filed with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10a"K for the year ended December 31, 2009, as amended, which are available at the SECa™s web site [ http://www.sec.gov ]. This report speaks only as of its date, and except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
