Swiss stock exchange SIX acquires Aquis Exchange in London
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss stock exchange 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 the future. It is thus entering new territory.
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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, licenses its own market infrastructure technologies to external clients, operates a primary market for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and growth companies in the UK and offers market data.
Founded 12 years ago as a start-up exchange with a fixed fee model, the company 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 press release. 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, BME or Euronext). In general, MTFs are less strictly regulated than primary exchanges.
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Traditional stock exchanges have been suffering from low trading volumes for some time. Alternative trading venues such as MTFs also play a role in this, as they have increasingly established themselves as a good alternative for investors. With the acquisition, SIX will now become an MTF operator itself.
These trading venues came into being in 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 with the takeover in the UK. It is said that this offers the opportunity to create a competitive pan-European stock exchange for SMEs and growth companies. 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
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 additional investment in further development, says Bjørn Sibbern, Global Head of Exchanges at SIX. Sibbern came 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.
The SIX Group will acquire the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Aquis. As part 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 around £207 million (CHF234 million).
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 €2.6 billion (CHF2.45 billion).
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
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