SuperDerivatives, a Tel-Aviv-based global financial information and trade execution provider, is in discussions with a "large international company from the same field" looking to acquire the company, according to a report in Israeli newspaper 'Calcalist'. The potential buyer is reportedly already conducting due diligence tests in the firm's headquarters these days.
Founded in the year 2000, the company provides clients with a system to evaluate pricing of swaps, with FX swaps and options being a large part of their business. Swap dealers use SuperDerivatives to get a third party evaluation of their swap price changes for mark-to-market on a daily basis for their customers and for filling accounting reports.
Also among clients using SuperDerivatives for Risk Management and hedging exposures for derivatives are many financial institutions, such as the Chinese bank, ICBC. The yearly revenue of SuperDerivatives is estimated at $150 million and it is said to be profitable. In 2008, the CEO of the company, David Gershon, estimated that the company would one day go public with a $1 billion IPO, but that never came to be. Six months ago the company hired the services of an investment bank asking for a $500 million acquisition.
SuperDerivatives has also developed a multi-bank multi-asset Trading Platform , called SDeX. The SuperDerivatives' platform is supported by 26 market-making banks, including Morgan Stanley, Julius Baer and Macquarie. It supports all asset classes and is used for metals, FX, oil products, freight, credit derivatives and equity derivatives. These types of transactions have traditionally been executed either over the phone or via chat systems, and most exotic products have not yet been mandated for trading on either SEFs or MTFs.
