Nasdaq Inc. has agreed to sell its U.S. fixed-income
electronic trading platform to an affiliate of Tradeweb Markets Inc., a global
operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money
markets, the two companies announced Tuesday.
The Nasdaq Fixed Income platform formerly known as eSpeed is
a central limit order book, or CLOB, for electronic trading in on-the-run U.S.
Treasuries, which are the most recent ones released for a certain maturity. The
platform will become part of Tradeweb's Dealerweb, serving the wholesale
sector.
When the $190 million, all-cash transaction closes later in
2021, subject to regulatory approval and other conditions, Dealerweb clients
can use either protocol, Tradeweb said in a statement.
Tradeweb CEO Lee Olesky said in the statement that the
additional choice will mean more connected participants and lower cost, and
allows the firm to introduce more innovation for wholesale markets. "This
is a great opportunity for us to add value to the wholesale U.S. Treasuries
market — one of the world's largest and most liquid cash markets," Mr.
Olesky said.
Nasdaq said in a separate statement that the decision to
sell the fixed-income platform aligns with its corporate strategy to
concentrate on being a major technology and analytics provider to the global
capital markets. It intends to use the sale proceeds and other sources of cash
to repurchase shares to offset dilution to its non-GAAP earnings per share. The
proceeds from the sale, the remaining tax benefits related to its 2013 purchase
of eSpeed for $750 million, and capital expected when the transaction closes
are estimated at $700 million.
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