The NYSE Group Inc. today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire TransactTools Inc., a firm that provides enterprise messaging solutions for the securities trading industry.

The NYSE says that this transaction, coupled with its recently completed acquisition of the Securities Industry Automation Corporation, will give NYSE Group a world-class platform for delivering technology and services to customers for accessing liquidity and managing transactions across markets and geographies.

“TransactTools’ standards-based messaging technology leads the industry in speed and scalability and is the enterprise backbone for global transaction routing at many of the world’s largest financial institutions,” it says. “SIAC operates SFTI, the high-performance network connecting market participants to liquidity and information, and Sector, a commercial business unit providing connectivity, managed services, and market data content to the financial services industry.”

Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in early January 2007, were not disclosed.

“My colleagues and I welcome Sam Johnson and the TransactTools team to NYSE Group and look forward to working together to deliver an entirely new class of technology solutions for our customers,” said Jerry Putnam, NYSE Group president and co-chief operating officer, in a news release. “By strategically integrating the products and services of TransactTools we are addressing the changing connectivity needs of our clients and the broader market. We look forward to providing our customers with the ability to trade any asset, in any currency, at any time through a common technology platform.”

“Our vision has always been to provide the industry with a single, simple, comprehensive solution for managing access to liquidity regardless of where it sits,” said Sam Johnson, CEO of TransactTools. “We’re taking a huge step towards that vision in joining NYSE Group and integrating our platform with other key NYSE Group technology assets. To NYSE Group, we bring an enterprise customer base of 17 of the world’s 20 largest securities firms along with an opportunity to add the strategic commercial software and services business to its core listings and executions businesses.”

Upon completion of the transaction, Johnson will be NYSE Group executive vice president reporting directly to Putnam and will be responsible for integrating the TransactTools, SFTI, and Sector businesses into a single commercial unit for NYSE Group.