Schwab Agrees to Buy Private Share Platform for $660M

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(Bloomberg) -- Charles Schwab Corp. agreed to buy Forge Global Holdings Inc., a marketplace for buying and selling shares of private companies, for about $660 million.

Under the terms of the transaction, Schwab will acquire all of Forge’s shares for $45 apiece, according a statement Thursday. That’s about 72% more than the closing price on Wednesday.

The deal would be the first for Schwab under Chief Executive Officer Rick Wurster, who took the helm of the retail brokerage at the beginning of the year. Acquiring Forge could aid his ambition to give customers more opportunities to gain exposure to unlisted companies, especially as those firms stay private for longer. 

“There’s a lot more private companies today than there used to be, and fewer public companies,” Wurster said in a Bloomberg Television interview in September. “It makes sense to think about providing direct access to retail investors to private companies.”

Westlake, Texas-based Schwab, which is also a bank, was swept up in the regional banking turmoil of 2023, but has since rebounded, reporting third-quarter earnings last month that beat estimates as consumers flocked to investing. Wurster said at the time that new Schwab brokerage accounts topped 1 million for the fourth quarter in a row.

Shares of the firm were up 27% this year through Wednesday, outpacing the S&P 500’s 16% advance. New York-based Forge has jumped 87%, giving it a market value of $355 million. The stock surged 63% in early trading Thursday.

Morgan Stanley agreed to buy a competitor to Forge, EquityZen, Bloomberg News reported last week.

The news comes as Schwab is holding its annual Impact conference in Denver this week. WealthManagement.com is there, providing full coverage of the event.

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