Schwab-TD Ameritrade Deal Gets Shareholders' Approval

By Janet Levaux

News June 04, 2020 at 03:45 PM

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images of Schwab and TD Ameritrade signs

A second hurdle facing the planned purchase of TD Ameritrade for $26 billion by Charles Schwab Corp. was cleared Thursday with the vast majority of shareholders of both firms voting to support the deal.

The votes took place during the firms' yearly shareholder meetings, which were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and involved several supplements to their May 4 proxy statement.

"We are pleased that Schwab's stockholders have approved the proposals related to our announced acquisition of TD Ameritrade," sayd Schwab President and CEO Walt Bettinger in a statement late Thursday.

This development came hours after Schwab said the Justice Department had approved the transaction.

"We are pleased that our shareholders are supportive of this transformative opportunity to create the ultimate client experience for retail investors and independent registered investment advisors," according to Steve Boyle, TD Ameritrade's interim president and CEO.

See Schwab's Purchase of TD Ameritrade: A Timeline

TD Ameritrade's preliminary tally shows that well over two-thirds of shareholders favor the transaction. This action supersedes a recent lawsuit filed in Delaware against the merger, which argued that Schwab became an "interested stockholder" in its merger activities before its board approved and went public with the news of the deal.

Within four business days, TD Ameritrade plans to release its official tally of Thursday's shareholder votes.

Schwab and TD Ameritrade said last month that they had updated and amended a prospectus in order to put to rest eight other lawsuits concerning an "incomplete and misleading registration statement."