Charles Russell Speechlys has recently acted as legal adviser to R.J. O’Brien Europe Limited (“RJO Europe”) on its acquisition of The Kyte Group Limited (“Kyte”) from GFI Group (“GFI”) for an undisclosed sum.

RJO Europe is an affiliate of Chicago-based R.J. O’Brien & Associates (“RJO”), the oldest and largest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States. Established in 2011, its regulated R.J. O’Brien (UK) Limited operation serves Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The firm has been steadily investing in infrastructure and growing its institutional presence in the region, continuing to add experienced institutional sales professionals to its team.

GFI is a leading intermediary and provider of trading technologies and support services to the global OTC and listed markets which is majority-owned by BGC Partners Inc. Kyte is one of the largest derivatives clearing agents in Europe, offering risk management, trade settlement and exchange connectivity via Direct Market Access to proprietary traders, brokers, market makers and hedge funds.

An independent clearing firm, Kyte has consistently ranked among the top 10 firms by volume on Liffe and ICE Futures Europe and among the top 20 firms by volume on Eurex.

The acquisition, which was subject to approval by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, completed on 17 March 2015.

The Charles Russell Speechlys team was led by Corporate Partner William Nash with assistance from Corporate Associates Jaspal Sekhon, Rossana Conti and Amelly Kok. Consultant Vincent Mercer advised on financial services and regulatory matters.

Members of our Financial Services & Funds, Corporate Tax, Banking & Finance, Commercial, Intellectual Property, Real Estate and Employment, Pensions & Immigration groups were also involved in the transaction.

Commenting on the deal, William Nash said:

“We are delighted to have worked with RJO to close this important strategic transaction which provides the group with a solid platform to expand its operations significantly in the UK and Europe. This transaction demonstrates our ability to deliver specialist financial services advice, drawing on our market leading expertise in trading markets, alongside our corporate transactional capability.”

Melissa Andrews (Managing Director, General Counsel at RJO) commented:

“We are very pleased to have closed on this important transaction that brings us great new clients, a terrific team and outstanding infrastructure, enabling us to accelerate our growth in Europe. The team at Charles Russell Speechlys helped us navigate and streamline the acquisition process, and together, we brought the transaction to a successful conclusion.”