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London-based online trading platform Freetrade told CNBC Tuesday that it's agreed to buy the U.K. customer book of Stake, an Australian investing app.

The move is part of a broader bid from Freetrade to bolster its domestic business and comes as British digital investment platforms face rising competition from new entrants — not least U.S. heavyweight Robinhood .

The startup told CNBC exclusively that it entered into a transaction with Stake to take on all of the company's clients and move all assets the firm manages in the U.K. over to its own platform.

Freetrade and Stake declined to disclose financial information of the deal, including the value of Stake's U.K. customer book.

Stake, which is based in Sydney, Australia, was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs Matt Leibowitz, Dan Silver and Jon Abitz with the aim of providing low-cost brokerage services to retail investors in Australia.

The company, which also operates in New Zealand, launched its services in the U.K. in 2020. However, after a recent business review, Stake decided to focus primarily on its Australia and New Zealand operations.

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