ICE has agreed to buy Virtu Financial’s fixed income trading venue BondPoint in a deal worth $400 million.
The purchase will enable ICE to bolster its fixed income capabilities within its data and technology structure as it continues to expand into the asset class.
Virtu Financial inherited BondPoint following its $1.4 billion merger with KCG earlier this year, although the firm made its intentions to offload the platform clear after looking to streamline the business.
ICE won its bid to buy BondPoint fighting off competition from other fixed income venues including MarketAxess and Tradeweb, according to reports.
Doug Cifu, CEO at Virtu Financial, explained after a thorough analysis, the management team concluded BondPoint was better suited outside of Virtu’s core operations.
“Following a competitive process, ICE distinguished itself as a strong and stable global organisation that could provide the best home for BondPoint, its customers, and its employees,” he added.
CEO at ICE, Jeff Sprecher, also commented that the purchase of BondPoint will allow ICE to continue to innovate in fixed income as the markets continue to evolve.
“We look forward to welcoming the BondPoint team to ICE, and supporting solutions that enable our customers to transact with confidence in an increasingly transparent, automated and data-driven marketplace,” he said.