Liquidnet, the electronic global marketplace for block trading, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Miletus Trading.

Miletus Trading is an agency-only brokerage firm that provides advanced, quantitative execution strategies and analytics to institutional investors. The transaction is expected to close by the end of March, pending regulatory approval.

“Liquidnet’s acquisition of Miletus is an integral part of our strategy to build a more efficient global institutional marketplace for the buy side,” said Seth Merrin, CEO of Liquidnet. “Miletus and Liquidnet are like-minded firms. Both companies are focused on how innovation and technology can empower buy-side traders and improve their trading results. Together, Liquidnet and Miletus will introduce the next-generation institutional trading model. We look forward to unveiling our new products to our joint Membership base in the coming months.”

Michael Capelli, co-founder and managing director of Miletus Trading, added, “By fusing Miletus’ technology with Liquidnet’s 3.5-billion-share liquidity pool we will create an even more compelling marketplace that advances the way institutions trade equities.”

Putnam Lovell NBF Securities Inc. acted as sole financial adviser to Miletus during this transaction.