Lightspeed Financial, a leading provider of ultra low latency direct market access (DMA) trading technology, risk management solutions, and brokerage services for retail active traders, professional trading groups, hedge funds, and algorithmic "black box" firms, today announced that subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions it has acquired a perpetual license to the Anvil trading software currently available only through Assent LLC.
The licensing agreement is part of an ongoing effort by Lightspeed to fortify its position as the active trading industry's premier operator and the leading acquirer of trading businesses. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Assent made public in April its plans to exit the professional-trading business and discontinue operating the Anvil trading platform.
"We continue to grow our business organically at a steady pace while at the same time assessing the competitive landscape to identify strategic combinations, which can help us capture an even greater share of market as we build an enduring company and establish Lightspeed as the preeminent home for professional traders," said Stephen Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer, Lightspeed Financial, Inc. "The license to operate Anvil was a perfect fit for Lightspeed. It enhances our ability to offer professional trading clients ultra low latency market data and executions, a business we have been successfully servicing for years. This transaction is a validation of our leading position in the professional trading arena."
The exclusive licensing deal for Anvil represents the fifth successful transaction that Lightspeed has made in the active trading space since its inception nearly four years ago and its third deal this year. Past transactions include the acquisitions of retail trading firms Schonfeld & Company, LLC, Integrity Trading Inc, NobleTrading, and Terra Nova Financial, LLC earlier this month.
Ehrlich noted that the licensing deal could, when effective, bring the total Lightspeed client base to more than 7,500 traders who could execute over 220 million equity shares per day with total client assets exceeding $1.35 billion.