Merrill to Buy D.E. Shaw’s Online Group

Merrill Lynch & Co., the nation’s largest brokerage, said it will buy the Internet technology group of troubled New York investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co. to beef up its fledging online services. Merrill, which had resisted offering Internet trading to its 4.9 million clients, is planning to make online trading available for 55,000 account holders by the end of March. The acquisition of the D.E. Shaw unit would help Merrill implement that strategy, said Howard Sorgen, the chief technology officer of Merrill’s private client group. Merrill would not give the acquisition price, but sources close to the situation said the range of $25 million to $35 million reported by the Wall Street Journal is in the ballpark. Shares of New York-based Merrill rose $2.50 to close at $72.38 on the NYSE.