Charles Schwab is buying TD Ameritrade for $26 billion, with a deal expected to be announced Thursday morning, Fox Business reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
Shares in Charles Schwab reversed an earlier decline in pre-market trading and are up 2.4%, while TD Ameritrade reduced some of the earlier gains and is up 17%. Both companies didn't immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.
A deal would create a firm with roughly $5 trillion in combined assets, consolidating an industry under pressure from a price war that escalated when Schwab last month announced plans to eliminate commissions for U.S. stocks, exchange traded funds and options.
The move forced other brokerages to follow suit and triggered a slump in the shares of such firms, with TD Ameritrade among the hardest hit.
TD Ameritrade has lost 11% since then, valuing the company at $22 billion. Schwab gained 7% in the same period, giving it a stock market value of $57 billion.
CNBC reported earlier the firms were in talks, with a deal likely as soon as today.
