By Bradley Hope

The market-making arm of hedge fund Citadel LLC is in talks to buy the seats on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange owned by KCG Holdings Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Citadel Securities, a group owned by the Chicago-based hedge fund, is the would-be acquirer in the deal, the people said. The group is best known for its so-called wholesaler business that executes orders from retail investors on behalf of big brokerages such as TD Ameritrade Holding and Fidelity Investments.

The deal comes after Global Trading Systems, the New York-based high-frequency trading firm, last month said it agreed to buy the NYSE seats of British bank Barclays PLC.

Computerized trading firms such as Citadel Securities and GTS are playing an increasingly prominent role in a floor-trading business that was long the domain of big banks and specialist firms.

Citadel and KCG couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

KCG is the product of a 2013 merger between Knight Capital and high-frequency trading firm Getco LLC.

Write to Bradley Hope at bradley.hope@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2016 16:24 ET (21:24 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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