Two trading system vendors announce merger of equals
On Nov. 28, Sweden's Itiviti and France's Ullink announced plans to merge their technology and market infrastructure businesses. Itiviti provides trading software for banks, market makers and trading firms and has many customers in the derivatives markets, while Ullink specializes in providing order management systems and market connectivity. The combined firm will have more than $200 million in revenues and a local market presence in the major markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas. The two companies explained that the merger will give the combined company the scale and diversification to be a full-service provider for global and regional financial institutions, with the ability to support "the complete order cycle across all asset classes."
A key factor in driving the deal was the participation of two private equity firms, HgCapital and Nordic Capital. London-based HgCapital bought a majority stake in Ullink in 2014, which paved the way for Ullink to buy two smaller businesses from Intercontinental Exchange later that year. Nordic Capital bought Orc Group, the predecessor of Itiviti, in 2012, and added Greenline Financial Technologies in 2013 and Tbricks in 2015. HgCapital will realize cash proceeds of £24.3 million ($32.4 million) on completion of the transaction, which represents a gain of 27% over the investment's net asset value.
