BNY ConvergEx has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LiquidPoint, a Chicago-based provider of options execution and trading technology.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but BNY ConvergEx says as part of the transaction, LiquidPoint's management team will make a "substantial investment" in its business.
LiquidPoint a listed options execution and trading technology firm that provides services to institutional traders, prime brokers, hedge funds, financial intermediaries and options exchanges. The firm's flagship product, the Heat System, is an electronic order entry, routing and execution management system, providing access to all US options exchanges from a single desktop application.
In a statement BNY ConvergEx says LiquidPoint is responsible for routing and/or executing over 22% of the daily listed options trading volume in the US and the acquisition significantly enhances its franchise "by positioning the firm to take advantage of the fast growing electronic options marketplace".
Joseph Velli, chairman and CEO of BNY ConvergEx Group, says: "The acquisition of LiquidPoint is a very important stepping stone for our business because it provides immediate scale in one of the fastest growing asset classes, and more importantly adds further breadth and depth to our product offering."
LiquidPoint will continue to be managed as a separate company within BNY ConvergEx Group.
BNY ConvergEx was formed in 2006 through the combination of individual Bank of New York securities business units with order management systems vendor Eze Castle Software.