Bank-backed fixed income exchange BrokerTec Global - rumoured to be the subject of a $300 million takeover bid by interdealer broker Icap - has issued a statement confirming an approach by "several parties concerning possible strategic combinations".
BrokerTec says that all of these discussions are at preliminary stages and that the board has yet to determine which, if any, link-up would be in its best interests.
Icap has declined to comment, but the firm is known to be in acquisitive mode. A deal with Brokertec would be a strategic fit, say analysts, raising Icap's share of the US interdealer treasury bond market from 10% to more than 40%.
BrokerTec is owned and controlled by 14 of the top trading houses on Wall Street. Between them, these firms have a hand in 85% of trades conducted on the interdealer treasury market. The US Justice Department is currently investigating BrokerTec and similar bank-backed trader platforms for possible anti-trust violations. The Justice Department is understood to be interested in possible collusion between firms to steer trades towards BrokerTec and away from competitors.
In its statement, BrokerTec insists that current discussions are "unrelated" to the Department of Justice's investigation.