Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has reached agreement to sell NYSE Technologies’ NYFIX and Metabit businesses to Ullink, just days after it confirmed agreements to sell Wombat and SuperFeed to SR Labs, and its 25% stake in Fixnetix back to the company.
ICE says these sales complete its previously stated intention to divest certain non-exchange related assets of NYSE Technologies. Businesses that have not been put up for sale and will remain within the group include the SFTI network and NYSE Technologies’ data centres in Mahwah, New Jersey and Basildon, to the east of London.
Terms of the agreement with Ullink were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014. Ben Jackson, president and chief operating officer of ICE Futures US and president of NYSE Technologies, says: “This agreement completes our stated goal of taking certain stand-alone NYSE Technologies businesses and positioning them with other leading technology companies that can enable them to continue to grow and innovate on a global scale.”
Ullink describes the acquisition of NYFIX and Metabit as transformational and a means of creating a new company with a significantly increased global footprint. NYFIX, a provider of FIX-based products and cornerstone of the NYFIX Marketplace of more than 1,000 trading counterparties, improves Ullink’s presence among buy-side firms and extends its US footprint, while Metabit, a Tokyo-based provider of connectivity including direct market access, offers increased access to pan-Asian markets.
The enlarged Ullink business has revenue of $130 million and will include 500 employees servicing over 2,000 clients. Scott Fitzpatrick, chief operating officer of NYFIX, will become managing director of Ullink’s NYFIX Services business line, with Daniel Burgin, CEO of Metabit, becoming chief operating officer of the company’s Asia business.
Laurent Useldinger, CEO and founder of Ullink, says: “The Ullink, NYFIX and Metabit businesses and products represent an excellent strategic fit with each other. We also share a strong client led culture and commitment to both customer service and leading edge technology. Our increased scale and strengths will produce a substantial challenger in the market, delivering benefits for the entire trading technology user base.”
Ullink’s agreement to buy NYFIX and Metabit from ICE follows European equity investor HgCapital’s acquisition of a majority stake in Ullink in March 2014.
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