Sturdivant & Co. Inc. Signs Sponsorship Agreement with BIDS Trading

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sturdivant & Co. Inc., a full service, MBE certified, brokerage firm with over twenty-five years capital markets experience, and BIDS Trading, L.P., the Alternative Trading System (“ATS”) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, today announced the signing of a sponsorship agreement that allows Sturdivant to provide customers direct and anonymous block liquidity in the BIDS ATS.

“We are pleased to become a sponsoring broker with BIDS Trading. This is a great opportunity for us to provide our clients with additional liquidity in the U.S. markets and utilize our MBE status”

“We are pleased to become a sponsoring broker with BIDS Trading. This is a great opportunity for us to provide our clients with additional liquidity in the U.S. markets and utilize our MBE status,” said Harvey R. de Krafft, Managing Director of Sturdivant & Co. Inc.

BIDS trading supports a sponsored access model that allows buy-side clients to select a broker to pay for their trading activity in the BIDS ATS. Buy-side clients benefit by more effectively utilizing their commission dollars to pay for the goods and services provided by their broker/dealer partners. BIDS Trading allows market participants to trade large blocks of equities without revealing their order. Information disclosure is controlled by the trader via customizable trading tools: traders set their minimum block size to help protect their order and they can filter out counterparties based on past trading behavior.

“The addition of Sturdivant as a sponsor in BIDS furthers our goal of creating the most efficient trading venue and deepest liquidity pool possible,” said Tim Mahoney, CEO of BIDS Trading. “We are truly pleased to provide investors using Sturdivant with the ability to access BIDS Trading’s open, flexible platform.”

ABOUT BIDS TRADING, L.P.

BIDS Trading, L.P. is a registered broker/dealer and the operator of the BIDS Alternative Trading System (“ATS”), which was designed to bring counterparties together to anonymously trade large blocks of shares. Developed by a consortium of leading financial services firms, BIDS Trading resolves the classic paradox of the block trader – the need to find legitimate trading counterparties without prematurely revealing trading intentions. For more information, visit www.bidstrading.com.

ABOUT STURDIVANT & CO. INC.

Sturdivant & Co. Inc. is a full service, MBE certified, brokerage firm with over twenty-five years capital markets experience. Their offices are located in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois. They bring unique and in-depth knowledge of the companies, the business climate, the economy and the politics of “the region” to clients in diverse geographies. Their experienced and committed team of research and trading professionals, strengthened by their technology, market intelligence and solid relationships, enables them to consistently provide outstanding service. For more information, please visit www.sturdivant-co.com.

©2012 BIDS Trading® is a member of FINRA, NYSE, and SIPC. BIDS Trading and the BIDS Trading mark are protected in the United States and countries throughout the world.