The press has reported that Intercontinental Exchange Group Inc. recently hired investment bank Evercore Partners Inc. to sell certain technology and business assets operated by Nyse Technologies. A significant component of the Nyse Technologies portfolio up for divesture is the "Nyfix Marketplace" or "Nyfix Network."
Today NYFIX's founders and the management team that successfully grew and operated these assets for 15 years ending in 2006, announced their interest in potentially teaming with one of the bidders for these assets. The founding NYFIX management team includes Peter Kilbinger Hansen, NYFIX CEO and Chairman from 1991 to 2006; Lars Kragh, NYFIX co-founder and CIO from 1991 to 2006, who developed of all of NYFIX's principal technologies; Keith Jamaitis, NYFIX's COO and President until 2006; and several other former NYFIX leaders.
This is the team that conceived the ideas, formulated the strategies, and developed the business for most of NYFIX's successful assets; including the NYFIX FIX messaging software, data center infrastructure, and the NYFIX network. These NYFIX technologies became an industry utility and set the standard for connecting the buyside to their sellside trading counterparties, exchanges and other industry transaction venues. This team built the products and business services from the ground up into a successful business with annual revenues of more than $120 million.
In spite of the potential, the growth momentum and the ongoing expansion of the NYFIX network as experienced in earlier days, seems to have stalled in recent years. Various opportunities exist for the NYFIX network, but with a far more competitive and commoditized landscape for trading related connectivity, it will take a clear understanding of the Network's capabilities, competition and the market, in order to successfully increase the business and revenues generated from the Network.
Today the NYFIX founders are active investors and board members in several successful businesses, of which some serve about 400 international banks, institutions and hedge funds.
While committed to continue to support our current business interests, we can add specific strategic value, and help mitigate risks in the transition process, and offer specific subject matter expertise and tenured experience available to management to add leverage to candidates considering the acquisition of one or more of the NYFIX-related NYSE Technologies assets.