Ideanomics a New York-based financial technology company has acquired an additional 71.7 percent stake in Wilmington-based Delaware Board of Trade Holdings, Inc.
Ideanomics now owns 98.4 percent of the trading platform and related companies. The acquisition is valued at more than $18 million.
The Delaware Board of Trade Holdings Inc. operates three companies.
“We are in the early stages of a transformation in the global debt markets. Companies in all points of their lifecycle; seed, growth, and maturing revenue, are seeking to raise debt capital in a regulatory compliant manner to provide capital for growth and liquidity. DBOT is well positioned to provide the platform and advisory services for those companies and their liquidity needs, in addition to their current over-the-counter listings business,” said Alf Poor, CEO of Ideanomics. “They are a part of our strategic vision of a regulatory compliant ecosystem of regulated ATSs and exchanges which will facilitate the trading of debt on a global scale. We’ve been working with John Wallace, Chairman of DBOT, and the team for close to 18 months now and, coupled with our asset-backed debt-based deal origination capabilities, we believe DBOT can play a significant role as part of the next generation of a truly connected global capital markets ecosystem for corporations and their shareholders.”
The global debt market hovered around $243 trillion globally at the end of 2018.
The Board of Trade, based in downtown Wilmington, has worked to gain traction in electronic equities trading. The organization gained some of its initial financing with a controversial loan from New Castle County. Proceeds came out of a park fund.
According to Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the global bond market outstanding grew from $73 trillion in 2008 to $100 trillion in 2017. A total of 36.1 percent of the growth in this period was contributed by issuance originated in China and Asia.
Since its initial investment in DBOT, Ideanomics has witnessed the growth and value of providing access to capital markets, in addition, the need to integrate technologies such as artificial intelligence to truly reduce inefficiencies and risk, and other technologies to fractionalize debt products and facilitate their trading, a release stated.
“We are very excited to be part of the Ideanomics family, to leverage their technologies, and monetize their strategic relationships, both domestically and internationally,” said John Wallace, chairman at DBOT. “In addition to increasing our market presence for our core OTC offerings, this deal allows us to execute on our vision and strategy at an accelerated pace through the additional deal flow and resources that Ideanomics brings to the table. As digital securities offerings, fractionalization, and tokenization become more the norm, DBOT will be well positioned to take advantage of this in a regulatory compliant manner and this will translate into greater throughput and profitability for both our business and that of Ideanomics.”
DBOT ATS LLC, operates an SEC recognized Alternative Trading System that facilitates transactions of secondary trading of corporate equity securities.
Ideanomics has already started its global debt ecosystem network building in Asia by entering into an agreement with a major exchange to explore debt trading platforms, establish teams, and partnerships in China mainland Hong Kong, Singapore, and Vietnam. Similar partnership conversations are underway in Europe and the Middle East.
Further information is available at http://www.dbottrading.com