JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $1.7 billion in cash for assets of RBS Sempra Commodities LLP.
But it would not acquire the trading firm's North American power and natural gas businesses, reducing the potential for conflicts with regulatory proposals from the Obama administration and avoiding overlap with some of JPMorgan Chase's existing trading operations.
The transaction, led by JPMorgan Chase's global commodities chief, Blythe Masters, includes the global oil, global metal and European power and gas assets of RBS Sempra, a joint venture of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Sempra Energy.
RBS was forced by the European Union to sell its stake in the Stamford, Conn., venture after receiving a 45.5 billion pound ($71 billion) bailout from U.K. taxpayers.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter and will immediately add to profit, JPMorgan Chase said in a press release Tuesday.
