ODL Securities, a London-based equities, derivatives and FX trading house, has agreed to buy bestconnect, a UK retail service provider elect...

ODL Securities, a London-based equities, derivatives and FX trading house, has agreed to buy bestconnect, a UK retail service provider electronic dealing service, from investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort. The price was not disclosed but media reports suggest a figure around £5 million ($10 million). As part of the deal, the business will begin to transfer to ODL on a phased basis with the aim of being fully migrated by 30 June 2007. Clients’ trading counterparty, connectivity routes and settlement procedures will initially remain unchanged. bestconnect’s client base is predominantly UK private banks, retail stockbrokers and private client investment managers. It offers electronic deal-at-quote and limit order executions as well as traditional sales trading execution services in more than 8,000 tradeable instruments. According to the company, the acquisition makes ODL Securities the UK’s second-largest RSP; it says it intends to leverage bestconnect’s risk management and price-making technology to enter new financial product areas.