Open E Cry acquired by optionsXpress

F

ForrestGump

Just received an e-mail from Open E Cry that it has been acquired by OptionsXpress.

I have been a customer of Open E Cry pretty much since they opened in 2003. It is probably one of the best futures brokers I have used - and I have used nearly all the major brokers over the last twenty years. I hope that OptionsXpress has the foresight to let OEC operate as a separate unit from their less than stellar main operations.

The OEC owners have cashed out in a big way (about $18 Million, I believe), Let us see what the future holds for the OEC customers.


Moderator,

If it has already been posted elsewhere, please feel free to combine threads or delete this one. Thanks.
 
http://www.openecry.com/company/newsevents.cfm

CHICAGO, IL, June 25, 2008 – optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. (NasdaqGS: OXPS) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Open E Cry, LLC, for approximately $18 million, plus additional consideration based upon future performance. The Company anticipates the transaction to close on July 1, 2008. Open E Cry, based in Powell, OH, is an innovative futures broker offering direct access futures trading through its proprietary software platform, OEC Trader. The Open E Cry platform contains a set of complex systems and order routing technology specifically designed to meet the standards of high volume commodities and futures traders. End user access is achieved through a downloadable software interface or through a proprietary API.

“We believe the acquisition of Open E Cry further enhances optionsXpress’ position as the premiere derivatives-focused brokerage,” said David Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of optionsXpress. “We anticipate significant growth in the futures industry, and this acquisition provides us with a world-class platform to expand our market presence by appealing to institutions and highly active traders.”

Open E Cry was formed in 2002 by its president and founder, Rick Tomsic. With an emphasis on speed, reliability and ease of use, Open E Cry has developed a platform that caters to the specific needs of high volume futures traders.

“We think optionsXpress is a great fit for Open E Cry. Bringing our companies together creates a terrific array of tools and products for all types of investors,” commented Mr. Tomsic. “This business combination provides a tremendous opportunity for us to accelerate Open E Cry’s growth by leveraging optionsXpress’ robust infrastructure.”

Transaction Terms:

Open E Cry’s members will receive approximately $13 million of cash consideration and $5 million in stock plus additional consideration based upon future performance. Mr. Tomsic has agreed to a multi-year employment agreement. optionsXpress expects the transaction to have no significant impact on 2008 earnings per share.

Open E Cry Financial and Operating Metrics:

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2007, Open E Cry generated approximately $8 million in revenue and $1 million in pretax income. Year-to-date 2008 revenues have grown over 100% from the same period last year. Key operating metrics for 2007 were:
• Ending open accounts of approximately 2,100
• Daily average revenue trades of approximately 5,500 (DARTs)
• Ending customer assets of $36.8 million

About optionsXpress Holdings, Inc.

optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. provides innovative securities brokerage products and services for investor education, strategy evaluation and trade execution. Through its subsidiaries optionsXpress, Inc., an online brokerage, and brokersXpress LLC, an online broker dealer for investment representatives and advisors, the company offers a wide range of investor tools, outstanding customer service via Live Help chat service and competitive commissions. optionsXpress has been named the top online securities brokerage by Kiplinger's Personal Finance (2006) and by Barron's in its last four annual surveys (2003 to 2006).

More information can be found in the Investor Relations section of optionsXpress' website at http://www.optionsxpress.com/investor.

Safe Harbor

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks. We urge you to carefully consider these risks in evaluating the information in this press release, including risks related to general economic conditions, regulatory developments, the competitive landscape, the volume of securities trading generally or by our customers specifically and other risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date of this release. We undertake no ongoing obligation to update these statements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Investor Inquiries:
Victoria Paris
Ashton Partners
(312) 553-6715

Media Inquiries:
Josh Inglis
Strategics, Inc.
(312) 346-2007
 
I came to OEC because futures execution thru OXPS was horrible.....gods, do I have to start looking for another futures broker after only 5 months? OEC totally rocked. :(
 
Quote from rickf:

I came to OEC because futures execution thru OXPS was horrible.....gods, do I have to start looking for another futures broker after only 5 months? OEC totally rocked. :(
More...

I agree that optionsXpress was horrible for futures trading. I hope that OEC was purcashed for their platform, charting, etc.
 
Quote from clacy:

I agree that optionsXpress was horrible for futures trading. I hope that OEC was purcashed for their platform, charting, etc.
More...

No kidding. I love their platform.....and while I continue to trade stocks/options at OXPS I am VERY skeptical of going back there for futures, even with the OEC platform.

I think there's a firm here at ET who offers a whitelabel version of the OEC Trader software but I forget what their company name is....or if/how they're affected by this.
 
Quote from osorico:

http://www.openecry.com/company/newsevents.cfm

CHICAGO, IL, June 25, 2008 – optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. (NasdaqGS: OXPS) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Open E Cry, LLC, for approximately $18 million...........

Open E Cry was formed in 2002 by its president and founder, Rick Tomsic. “We think optionsXpress is a great fit for Open E Cry. Bringing our companies together creates a terrific array of tools and products for all types of investors,” commented Mr. Tomsic.
More...

......."Later in the day Mr. Tomsic was not able to be found for additional comments, it is reported that he caught a G5 for Vegas!"

:D Nice Job after only 6 years in business!!!
 
Goodness! I don't see how this can be positive for OEC customers....short-term positive for OEC owners but not for OEC clients.

What a shame!

If OEC were acquired by a major house like NEWEDGE or even MF Global, I could see the positive in this. but not by a house like optionsXpress.
 
Come on... It has to be a technology play. Clearly optionsXpress did not pick them up for the client base. Their book wasn't that big. I'm interested to see if they start offering the OEC platform to optionsXpress clients.
 
I have been very impressed with their(oec) software, and customer service has been great, always seem to get an intelligent person.


Things change.


Things will become clearer as time goes on.

I hope the accounting for tax stuff is not too messier.

I did call them up and ask if the software is going to change.

I was told there is no information they have to say on that at this time. So at this time, everything is the same as far as my operations, until further notice.
 
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