SIX to Buy London’s Aquis Exchange in a £207 Million Cash Deal

Switzerland’s SIX has agreed to acquire London-based Aquis Exchange in a cash offer, valuing the deal at an enterprise value of £194 million. Announced today (Monday), the Swiss bourse will pay 727 pence per share in cash to Aquis shareholders, putting the total issued and to-be-issued share capital of the latter at about £207 million.

The official announcement further detailed that the offer price provides Aquis shareholders a premium of about 120 percent over the closing price of its shares last Friday.

A “Compelling Strategic Opportunity”

According to SIX, the deal is a “compelling strategic opportunity which will complement its strategy to scale the exchange business beyond its home markets," adding that “the combined resources and capabilities of SIX and Aquis create a pan-European exchange across traditional primary exchange and multi-lateral trading facility (MTF) businesses.”

The Swiss exchange further highlighted that the acquisition would strengthen its ability to serve customers in Switzerland, Spain, and across Europe.

Aquis, founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, operates across several business segments, including a pan-European MTF facility for cash equities covering 16 European markets. It also has a base in Paris.

“De-Risks Future Value Creation”

“Aquis has a clear path of growth ahead; however, the board recognises there are always some operational, commercial, and market risks associated with the timing of future value creation,” said Aquis’ Chief Executive Alasdair Haynes. “The cash offer de-risks this future value creation and provides Aquis shareholders with certain value at a material premium.”

Bjørn Sibbern, SIX’s Global Head of Exchanges, also confirmed that “Aquis will continue to operate under its existing brand and business model with maximum agility.” However, as a SIX subsidiary, it will benefit from the parent company’s “resources, scale, and further investment.”

“We believe that combining Aquis with SIX's platform is a compelling opportunity to bring together two businesses with a shared commitment to capital markets innovation,” Sibbern added. “The combination will add Aquis’ strong offering to our traditional primary exchange and data businesses, complementing SIX’s existing growth listing segments.”

Recently, Aquis and Cboe announced their intentions to form a joint venture to explore a bid to become the EU’s equity consolidated tape provider. The new company, SimpliCT, is planned to be based in the Netherlands.