Singapore Exchange (SGX) to fully acquire BidFX for US$128 million

By Edil Corneille

Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced that it would acquire the remaining 80 per cent stake in BidFX from its other shareholders for a cash consideration of approximately US$128 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in July 2020. BidFX is a cloud-based FX trading platform for institutional investors.  The move by SGX would expand its reach beyond FX futures into the global FX over-the-counter (OTC) market.

Loh Boon Chye, Chief Executive Officer, SGX expounded, “The future of FX lies in the ability for market participants to benefit from price discovery, liquidity and transparency for both OTC and listed futures trading, in a single unified venue. BidFX is ahead of the curve in developing sophisticated electronic FX trading and workflow solutions. With BidFX as part of the SGX Group, we can now serve a wider FX community with more comprehensive solutions and enhanced distribution capabilities, while bringing together the two growing and mutually-reinforcing pools of liquidity.”

SGX first acquired a 20 per cent stake in BidFX in March 2019 with the aim of bringing together FX futures with OTC markets.

Jean-Philippe Malé, CEO, BidFX enthused, “We are delighted to join the SGX group of companies and combine forces with the largest FX futures marketplace in Asia. We will be, amongst other plans, expanding our coverage to include FX futures, which gives sophisticated investors a hedge to access the broader market across OTC and futures liquidity pools. As we continue to grow, we look forward to contributing to Singapore’s success as a central FX liquidity hub in Asia.”

BidFX was a subsidiary of TradingScreen, which had been incubating it and then spun it off in 2017.

Pierre Schroeder, CEO, TradingScreen enunciated, “We’ve purposefully focused our efforts and resources on our best opportunities for growth and this has led to exceptional results, such as the BidFX sale being announced today. TradingScreen clients will continue to have access to BidFX via its multi-asset TradeSmart application.”

Since BidFX’s establishment in January 2017, average daily volumes have grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 57 per cent to US$31 billion in May 2020. Since the start of this year, BidFX’s global clients have been able to trade across both OTC and futures FX markets, with the option to have bilateral counterparty or centrally cleared FX exposures, all in a single venue with an integrated workflow management system.