[ I N D E P T H | T P I C A P & L I Q U I D N E T ] key roles such as trade negotiation and sales . TP ICAP will add talent to Liquidnet , starting with the credit business and across Central Europe in major hubs including Paris , Frankfurt and Copenhagen , as it focuses on building out distribution .
“ We have always told our shareholders that Liquidnet isn ’ t a cost savings deal , it ’ s a growth deal . What is incredibly motivating is that as we have gone deeper postclose , it has become clear there is so much more from a functionality and platform perspective that we can do beyond what we initially thought , which has been an upside surprise for us ,” Ruskin adds .
“ Liquidnet has been doing what they do for a long time now and doing it very well . For the next stage , I think for us it ’ s about helping the equities platform get accepted as a fuller service market participant , rather than
" Nothing has changed . Liquidnet is an unconflicted agency broker known for its culture of innovative collaboration with the buy-side ."
ROB LAIBLE , HEAD OF EQUITIES , LIQUIDNET
solely a dark and block specialist . We want to build on Liquidnet ’ s dark execution strength , but there ’ s a lot more than the platform can do for its clients .”
In recent years , Liquidnet has expanded its data and technology capabilities through several of its own acquisitions . Its purchases included FinTech companies like OTAS Technologies , which provides buy-side intelligence and analytics with artificial intelligence and big data , as well as machine learning trade and investment analytics provider Prattle . Liquidnet launched a new data business in early 2020 , which combined the firm ’ s various data focussed takeovers under a single brand , known as Liquidnet Investment Analytics .
Having recently rebranded its own data and analytics business as Parameta Solutions , TP ICAP will accelerate growth in the new data division ’ s client base . It will also sell its data to Liquidnet ’ s fixed income clients and boost the data offering with Liquidnet ’ s data science team , artificial intelligence technology and natural language generation tools .
One of the more recent developments from Liquidnet prior to the acquisition by TP ICAP was plans to launch a new platform for the primary market to automate and streamline new issue workflows . Although it was tipped to launch by the end of 2020 , the platform is still in the early stages of development , but according to Ruskin and Nader , it remains a focus for TP ICAP .
“ We are very excited about Liquidnet ’ s forthcoming offering for the primary market . We are planning to launch a tool to automate and facilitate the new issuance workflow ,” Nader explains . “ The great thing about this project is that the buy- and sell-side came to Liquidnet and said they wanted to make the issuance process more efficient . New issues involve a very manual , but critical process . From our perspective we are pleased that key market participants both trusted and wanted to work with Liquidnet .”
Under new ownership and following the departure of founder and renowned CEO , Seth Merrin , who joined an AI-driven portfolio construction FinTech company in March , the acquisition marks a new chapter for Liquidnet and an exciting opportunity for TP ICAP to shake-up the institutional fixed income trading landscape .
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