The Chicago-headquartered banking group aims to strengthen its global brokerage capabilities through its latest purchase.

Northern Trust is to acquire Aviate Global, an institutional-focused equity brokerage, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition of the London-headquartered firm, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, will boost Northern Trust's trading and transition management services.

“This transaction aligns with our commitment to provide clients with a comprehensive set of solutions to meet their investment servicing needs,” said Michael O’Grady, president of corporate and institutional services. “We look forward to expanding our brokerage capabilities in EMEA and APAC to better serve our institutional and global family office clients globally."

“We look forward to leveraging Northern Trust’s strong global brand and full range of asset management, asset servicing and wealth management services,” said Guy Gibson, co-founder of Aviate Global. 

Aviate Global provides market research, trading and execution services with offices in London, New York, Hong Kong and Sydney. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

As of the end of September, Northern Trust had assets under custody of $6 trillion, and assets under management of $887 billion.