Swiss stock exchange SIX acquires Aquis Exchange in London
Published: Monday, Nov 11th 2024, 10:50
Updated At: Monday, Nov 11th 2024, 09:50
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SIX is taking over a stock exchange service provider in the UK. With the takeover of Aquis Exchange in London, the Swiss stock exchange operator will also operate a so-called multilateral trading facility (MTF) in future. It is thus entering new territory.
Aquis, which is headquartered in London and has an EU site in Paris, is active in several business areas, according to a statement issued by SIX on Monday. The company operates a multilateral trading facility (MTF) for equities in 16 European markets ("Markets"), licenses its own market infrastructure technologies to external clients, operates a primary market for SMEs and growth companies in the UK and offers market data.
The company, which was founded twelve years ago as a start-up exchange with a fixed fee model, is now coming under the wing of a large exchange group with more resources. The takeover by SIX reduces operational, commercial and market-related risks and offers Aquis shareholders secure value at a significant premium, Aquis CEO Alasdair Haynes was quoted as saying in the press release.
Alternative trading platform
The acquisition will turn SIX into a pan-European exchange group with traditional exchanges and an MTF business, according to the statement. MTF stands for "Multilateral Trading Facility" and is a trading system on which shares and other financial instruments are traded that are listed on traditional trading venues (such as SIX Swiss Exchange, BME or Euronext). In general, MTFs are less strictly regulated than primary exchanges.
Traditional stock exchanges have been suffering from low trading volumes for some time now. Alternative trading venues such as MTFs also play a role here, as they have become increasingly popular with investors as a good alternative. With the acquisition, SIX will now become an MTF operator itself.
These trading venues emerged from 2007 with the implementation of MiFID I (European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive). Stock exchanges could no longer demand that companies forward orders exclusively to them, which led to competition through MTFs.
SIX also intends to expand its SME business in the UK with the takeover. This offers the opportunity to create a competitive pan-European stock exchange for SMEs and growth companies, according to the statement. In Switzerland, SIX has been trying for some time to attract more SMEs to the stock exchange with the "Sparks" trading segment. So far, however, only one company has been listed in this stock market segment, which was founded three years ago.
Purchase price 207 million pounds
As part of SIX, Aquis will continue to operate under its existing brand, but will benefit from the resources and size of SIX as well as from additional investments in further development, says Bjørn Sibbern, Global Head of Exchanges at SIX. Sibbern joined from Nasdaq at the beginning of the year as the new Head of Exchanges and will now be responsible for Aquis in addition to the Swiss Stock Exchange and the Spanish stock exchange BME.
SIX Group will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Aquis. Under the terms of the offer, Aquis shareholders would be entitled to 727 pence per share in cash. The purchase price for the entire share capital amounts to approximately 207 million pounds sterling.
The last major takeover in the stock exchange sector was Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME). SIX acquired the Spanish stock exchange in summer 2020 for around EUR 2.6 billion.
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