Ameritrade's Rich Ransom

TD Bank will also tender for about 8% of the new company's outstanding stock at $16 a share after the dividend is paid.

The lure of the special dividend, however, isn't impressing all investors. Michael Stead, a portfolio manager for River Aire Investment, which mainly invests in financial stocks, says he sold his shares of Ameritrade shortly before the deal was announced. He says he would have preferred Ameritrade accepting the bid from E*Trade and is not disappointed he's missing out on the special dividend.

"They are clearly not interested in shareholder value, therefore it's time to go,'' says Stead, who sold his shares when the stock was trading around $15. "To hang around for a special dividend is something I'm not willing to do. I think there are better opportunities elsewhere."

The deal also has the backing of the family of Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, which owns about 34% of the company's outstanding stock.