IG Group, the London-based contracts for differences (CFDs) broker, has announced the acquisition of Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve for an initial enterprise value of A$178 million (£86.8 million).
IG Pushes Into Crypto
Announced today (Friday), the broker stressed that the bolt-on transaction will help it enter the cryptocurrency market in the Asia-Pacific region. Independent Reserve offers crypto trading to both retail and institutional customers with approvals from Australia and Singapore.
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IG also plans to expand the crypto exchange services across the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
“This acquisition marks an important step in IG’s crypto strategy in a key region,” said Matt Macklin, Managing Director of Asia-Pacific & Middle East at IG.
The deal is awaiting regulatory approvals from MAS in Singapore and FIRB in Australia and is expected to close in early 2026.
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Under the terms of the deal, IG will also onboard the leadership and employees of the crypto exchange, who will retain a 30 per cent shareholding.
“Joining IG provides us with the platform to accelerate our growth,” added Adrian Przelozny, CEO and co-founder of Independent Reserve. “IG’s vision aligns with our mission to provide secure, regulated crypto trading and this transaction will enable us to expand our product and market reach.”
Valuation Is 5x of Revenue
Independent Reserve generated A$35.3 million in revenue in FY25, a substantial increase from the previous year’s A$18.8 million. It also reported EBITDA of A$9.9 million with a 28.2 per cent margin.
The platform has 129,400 funded accounts with A$1.7 billion in assets under custody and an average of 116,000 monthly active customers.
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IG detailed that it determined Independent Reserve’s enterprise value at 5x its annual revenue for the last fiscal year. It will initially acquire the crypto exchange for A$109.6 million (£53.4 million). A further contingent payment of A$15 million (£7.3 million) will be made based on the performance of the Australian company in FY26.
The UK broker also has a call option to purchase the 30 per cent stake it will not own at closing, with valuation based on performance in FY27 and FY28.
The deal comes only a few months after IG started offering spot crypto trading services through its partnership with Uphold. The company also expanded its crypto offerings under its US unit tastytrade.
The Independent Reserve deal is IG’s second significant purchase in recent months. Earlier this year, it acquired UK-based commission-free stock trading platform Freetrade for £160 million.
Meanwhile, IG exited “several legacy and sandbox initiatives” in 2024, including Spectrum, Brightpool, Raydius, BadTrader, and Small Exchange. It also shuttered its operations in South Africa.
