Amsterdam-based electronic proprietary trading company Webb Traders received U.K. Financial Conduct Authority approval to acquire U.K. counterpart GST Capital, the Financial Times reported March 18.

Two people who were part of the negotiations told the FT that the Dutch group paid a price in the "single digit millions" for the acquisition, which will enable the company to retain access to U.K. markets following Brexit.

Webb Traders Managing Director Marco van den Berg said: "The whole regulatory environment pushes us to become bigger ... we wanted to go to London at some point and had good reasons to do it as soon as possible." He also said that the deal will help the company enter into energy and commodities markets.

Van den Berg added that trading on the London Stock Exchange via a branch would not be possible without U.K. systems being recognized as equivalent to those in the EU. The acquisition serves as a contingency plan in the event that the Britain leaves the U.K. without a deal, according to the report.