SGX Acquires 20% Stake in FX Trading Platform BidFX for $25m

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX), the largest foreign exchange (forex) marketplace in Asia, announced this Wednesday that it has acquired a 20 percent stake in BidFX, an upstart FX trading platform, for a total cash consideration of $25 million.

As part of the transaction, SGX has the option to acquire additional shares to gain a controlling interest in the company. According to the statement, the deal is part of the exchange’s strategy to build “core pillars of growth” across numerous asset classes.

In 2017, BidFX branched off as a division of TradingScreen, which is the provider of a multi-asset execution and order management system. BidFX itself is a cloud-based front-end trading platform for the global FX markets.

The company offers its products to hedge funds, asset managers and regional banks. Among its offering, its Liquidity aggregation platform supports FX spot, swaps and forwards for all G10 currencies as well as Asian currencies, the statement released today said.

Loh Boon Chye, the Chief Executive Officer of SGX, will join the Board of BidFX once the transaction closes. Commenting on today’s announcement, he said: “FX is one of our key growth pillars and we are excited to strengthen our service proposition to the market."

“With this investment, we have an opportunity to offer our suite of Asian FX futures alongside the over-the-counter (OTC) products offered on the BidFX platform, bringing together both pools of liquidity. We are confident that over time, they will establish themselves as a global e-FX platform and complement our fast-growing FX business.”

“This capital investment enables us to enhance our expertise and products to deliver comprehensive FX trading coverage to market participants in one workflow management system,” added Jean-Philippe Malé, the CEO of BidFX.

Singapore Continues to Attract Solid FX Trading Activity

Singapore houses the biggest FX center in all of Asia and the third-largest globally. The country is attracting solid forex trading activity, which is primarily driven by the growth and volatility in G10 and Asian currencies.

Pierre Schroeder, CEO of TradingScreen, continued: “We’ve been incubating BidFX inside TradingScreen, with demand for the most sophisticated FX trading and workflow solutions expected to grow significantly in the coming years. This investment strengthens BidFX’s leadership status across the global financial markets ecosystem.”