Apex Financial Buys Over 3% Stake in CFDs Broker CMC Markets

Apex Group, which offers a range of institutional financial services, has taken a 3.07 per cent stake in London-listed CMC Markets (LON: CMCX), a contracts for differences (CFDs) broker, through its Jersey-based trust entity.

Another Institution Holds CMC Stakes

According to a recent TR-1 filing through RNS with the London Stock Exchange, the 3 per cent threshold of Jersey-registered Apex Financial Services (Trust Company) Limited’s ownership in CMC Markets was crossed on 18 June.

Although the filing did not mention the acquisition cost, the market price of the CMCX shares on the day the disclosure threshold crossed was about £21.66 million.

It also remains unclear whether Apex bought the stake from the open market or whether other existing shareholders of the London-listed broker sold it.

Read more: IG, CMC, Plus500, and XTB – Client Numbers Surge, but ARPU Reveals the Differences

CMC Markets’ latest annual report shows that its founder and CEO, Lord Peter Cruddas, remains the broker's top stakeholder, with over 59 per cent of the stake under his control. Institutional investors Aberforth Partners and Schroders also hold 5.27 per cent and 5.06 per cent stakes in CMC Markets, respectively. Fiona Cruddas, Lord Cruddas's wife, is the fourth top CMC Markets shareholder, with a 3.21 per cent stake.

Now, the latest acquisition by Apex also puts it among the top shareholders of the London-listed broker.

Lord Cruddas Getting the Benefits

The financials of CMC also revealed that Lord Cruddas withdrew a basic salary of £700,000 in the last fiscal year, along with a bonus of £365,900. He also received about £14.5 million in dividends from the company last year.

Related: CMC Markets Hints at Tokenised Asset Launch

FinanceMagnates.com recently reported that three senior CMC executives, including Lord Cruddas, received more than £1.24 million worth of company shares under their “incentive plan.” Two other executives also received almost £900,000 in shares under the “management equity plan.”

Meanwhile, CMC Markets is not the only CFD broker to attract institutional investors' attention. Earlier this year, American asset management firm Capital Group acquired a 5.44 per cent stake in Plus500, another London-listed CFD broker. Based on the market price, the cash value of that acquisition was around £133.1 million.