By Jacob Bunge
The co-founders of Getco LLC will serve as directors of the new
company formed by the trading firm's planned takeover of Knight
Capital Group Inc. (KCG), according to a regulatory filing.
Stephen Schuler and Dan Tierney will serve as two of four board
members selected by Getco, joining the as-yet-unnamed trading
company's board alongside Getco Chief Executive Daniel Coleman and
Knight CEO Thomas Joyce, who is slated to become executive
chairman.
Getco on Wednesday agreed to acquire Knight for $1.4 billion, a
deal that will bring Getco's high-speed proprietary-trading heft
together with Knight's core business of trading shares with online
brokerage firms.
Other members of the merged company's board have yet to be
named. Besides Mr. Joyce, three other current Knight directors will
join the new company's board.
Messrs Schuler and Tierney, who co-founded Getco in Chicago in
1999, are regarded as visionaries in the business of automated
trading.
Getco, which originally stood for Global Electronic Trading
Company, harnessed technology to navigate a U.S. stock market
increasingly splintered by regulations aimed at driving down the
cost of trading for investors.
The privately held firm has since expanded into trading
derivatives contracts, bonds and currencies and set up offices in
Europe and Asia, though a broad-based slowdown in trading activity
in recent years forced Getco earlier this year to trim staff and
reduce costs.
Mr. Schuler and Mr. Tierney, both former floor traders, together
ran Getco for much of its lifespan. In February, the firm named Mr.
Coleman, a former equities-trading executive for UBS AG (UBXN.VX,
UBS), its chief executive as the co-founders shifted to advisory
roles.
At that time Mr. Schuler became executive director, a new role
at the firm, while both he and Mr. Tierney continued as directors
on Getco's board.
Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
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