NEWS UPDATE
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
ION Group takes stake in Broadway
Technology
Fixed income and foreign exchange trading technology provider Broadway has gained investment
from ION Group.
I
ON Investment Group has confirmed it has taken a con-
trolling stake in Broadway Technology, as the trading
infrastructure provider continues its push into foreign
exchange markets.
In a statement, ION said it had acquired the stake
in Broadway Technology alongside Long Ridge Equity
Partners and the Broadway founders. Terms of the deal
were not disclosed.
“Broadway’s client-first approach and strong cloud ex-
pertise are an excellent complement to our business and
their leading offering in FX further augments our recent
acquisition of FX low-latency specialist MarketFactory,”
Andrea Pignataro, CEO of ION, commented.
ION’s investment in the firm follows its acquisition of
currency software provider MarketFactory in November.
The deal marked the latest takeover by ION Group in
recent years, following its successful bid for markets
data provider Fidessa in 2018.
“Partnering with ION provides the investment to accel-
erate our product roadmap including workflow automa-
tion technology across different market segments and
asset classes,” added Tyler Moeller, co-founder and CEO
of Broadway.
US-based Broadway Technology specialises in fixed in-
come and foreign exchange trading software. In January,
Broadway Technology rolled out repo trading capabilities
across its fixed income, currencies and commodities
trading platform. The firm said the new functionality is
already being used by major banks in Europe for bond
trading.
B U Y- S I D E
Jupiter to acquire Merian Global Investors for £370 million
Formerly Old Mutual, Merian Global Investors deal with Jupiter will form £65 billion UK active asset
management powerhouse.
U
K investment firms Jupiter Fund
Management and Merian Global
Investors have confirmed plans to
merge to form a £65 billion active
asset management institution, in the
latest round of buy-side consolida-
tion.
Jupiter said in a statement that
it has moved to acquire the entire
used share capital of Merian for £370
million, with the combined group to
operate under the Jupiter brand once
the business has been fully integrat-
ed.
8 // TheTRADE // Spring 2020
The deal marks the first major
acquisition for Jupiter under Formica’s
leadership, after he was appointed
CEO of the fund manager early last
year. Merian has just over £22 billion
of assets under management and
underwent a rebrand in 2018 to drop
the Old Mutual Global Investors name
following the sale of its single strat-
egy asset management business to
private equity firm to TA Associates
for £600 million.
Jupiter added that Merian will bol-
ster its position in the UK as a leading
active asset manager and diversify
its funds, which have struggled with
outflows in recent years. It will also
provide Jupiter with assets under
management in other regions such as
the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
The proposed merger between
Jupiter and Merian, which is subject
to various approvals, is the latest
case of consolidation in active asset
management as investment firms
grapple with increasing costs of op-
eration amid falling fees and margin
pressures.