Nasdaq has made an all-cash offer of $190 million to acquires Swedish trading technolgy firm Cinnober.
The exchange operator is moving in on Cinnober after the Swedish firm in June initiated a cost reduction programme following a slow start to the year and full-year 2017 losses of Skr97.6 million. The following month, the company sold a 60% stake in its market surveillance unit Irisium to KRM22.
Reporting a bump in second quarter net income in July, Nasdaq reiterated its repositioning as a capital markets technology and analytics provider.
“The combined intellectual capital, technology competence and capabilities of Cinnober and our Market Technology business will expand the breadth and depth of our fastest growing division at Nasdaq,” says Adena Friedman, president and CEO, Nasdaq. “Not only have the global capital markets continued to evolve rapidly, new marketplaces in various industries are demanding market technology infrastructure that enables rapid growth and scale as well as access to tools to promote market integrity. This acquisition will enhance our ability to serve market infrastructure operators worldwide, and will accelerate our ability to expand into new growth segments.”
She says the take-over offers significant synergies from product enhancement, cross-sale, and efficiency opportunities, with the transaction expected to deliver 10% ROIC within 3-5 years.
With the Cinnober board recommending the offer, the deal is set to close in the fourth quarter.