Nasdaq has bolstered its Private Markets business through the acquisition of SecondMarket Solutions, which facilitates trading of shares in private companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SecondMarket will be integrated into Nasdaq Private Market, with the new acquisition's CEO Bill Siegel, leading the business.
The move comes as firms increasingly looking to stay private longer seek out ways to provide liquidity to shareholders. SecondMarket worked with Facebook before the social network's IPO and, the new combined business has a client portfolio of over 200 firms, including DocuSign, Pinterest, Shazam, and Tango.
Says Siegel: "As companies extend their pre-IPO lives, they face increasing pressure to provide liquidity to employees and early investors.
"Our combined offering strives to give private companies a comprehensive, company-controlled solution to attract and retain talent, while also providing tools to effectively manage their equity ownership and secondary liquidity for their employees and shareholders."
Meanwhile, Nasdaq has taken full ownership of Private Market after buying out minority stake holder SharesPost.
News of the acquisition comes as Nasdaq reports third quarter net income of $138 million, up from $123 million for the same period in 2014, on revenues of $542 million. The board has declared a quarterly dividend of 25 cent a share.