Deutsche Börse has acquired a 50% stake in Infobolsa, the market data subsidiary of Bolsa de Madrid, as part of a joint initiative with the Spanish stock market operator to tap the European terminal market.
Infobolsa, which was founded in 1990, is one of the leading providers of real-time financial information in Spain and Portugal. The firm reported sales revenues of EUR12 million in 2001 and provides financial news and information via a network of 1800 dedicated terminals.
With Deutsche Börse's participation in the venture, Infobolsa says it will establish a German subsidiary initially to cover the German-speaking market with a planned launch in December. Companies will access data via the Windows-based financial information system "NetStation" or directly via an integrated data stream.
Infobolsa bundles and distributes real-time data on national and international equities, fixed income, derivatives, money and commodities markets as well as financial news from specialised newswires agencies. The company complements this content with information on the investment fund industry as well as company fundamentals and forecasts of over 40,000 corporations.
Pedro Valdecantos, CEO of Infobolsa, comments: "The aim of this project is to introduce the existing technology, content and products developed by Infobolsa to a wider European market by starting with Germany."
Deutsche Börse executive board member Christoph Lammersdorf says the deal will further the growth of the exchange's information products division.