LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. interdealer broker BGC Partners (O:BGCP) has struck a deal to buy the UK assets of rival RP Martin, BGC Partners said in a statement on Monday.
BGC said it also planned to acquire RP Martin's other businesses based in Sweden and the Netherlands in 2015.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed. RP Martin declined to comment on the transaction.
BGC said RP Martin, which employs around 170 brokers in offices in Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands, generated unaudited revenues in excess of $50 million (£31.8 million) in the financial year ending Sept. 30.
"BGC expects the transaction to be immediately accretive and to boost its European (interest) rates and foreign exchange platforms," BGC said.
RP Martin was recently fined $2.3 million (£1.46 million) by British and U.S. regulators over allegations its traders manipulated benchmark interest rate London interbank offered rate (Libor).
Though not among the big five interdealer brokers -- ICAP (L:IAP), Tullett Prebon (L:TLPR), GFI Group (N:GFIG), Tradition (S:CFT) and BGC -- RP Martin is a well-known name in the industry, particularly for broking European interest rates and foreign exchange products.
Like its competitors, which make money by matching buyers and sellers of bonds, swaps and currencies, it has been hit by new regulations forcing its traditional investment banking clients to reduce risky trading activities, as well as efforts to push more derivatives trading onto electronic platforms to make the market more open and safer.
That structural change has triggered consolidation in the industry. Tullett recently bought oil broker PVM, while BGC is also pursuing a takeover of GFI.
(Reporting by Clare Hutchison; Editing by Mark Potter)