LMAX Group has hired Morgan Stanley and KBW to weigh a sale or public listing that could value the institutional trading firm at up to $5 billion. A Nasdaq listing is the preferred route, though a direct sale, a SPAC merger or a European float remain on the table.
LMAX Group has enlisted Morgan Stanley and KBW to assess a sale or public listing worth up to $5 billion. Three people familiar with the private talks said the London-based institutional trading company is reviewing several strategic paths.
According to one of those people, LMAX could pursue a direct sale or a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or an initial public offering in the United States or Europe. A Nasdaq listing currently ranks as its preferred option, the person added, though no final decision has been made. The potential $5 billion valuation would be five times the level attached to LMAX in July 2021. At that time, private equity firm J.C. Flowers agreed to buy a 30% stake for $300 million, valuing the group at about $1 billion.
Why LMAX can afford to wait
LMAX is regulated by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority and runs trading venues for banks, brokers, hedge funds and asset managers. Another person familiar with the process said the firm is not under pressure to go public while cryptocurrency prices remain weak, because revenue from its established foreign exchange business gives it room to wait for better conditions.
The company has also benefited from increased institutional participation after the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States, according to people familiar with the review. A Nasdaq debut would place LMAX alongside a growing group of cryptocurrency and market infrastructure companies seeking access to U.S. public capital.
A year of institutional product launches
LMAX spent the past year building out its institutional stack. In February, it launched a 24/7 multi-asset exchange covering foreign exchange, precious metals, digital assets, commodities and tokenized securities. A month earlier, Ripple invested $150 million in LMAX under an agreement to expand institutional use of the RLUSD stablecoin.
In May, the firm rolled out Kiosk, a hosted portal that lets clients deposit digital assets into LMAX Custody and use them as collateral across spot foreign exchange, precious metals, cryptocurrencies, contracts for difference and perpetual futures. The review also lands during an active stretch for crypto dealmaking. Kraken parent Payward has agreed to acquire derivatives platform Bitnomial. Bullish, the owner of CoinDesk, has separately announced a $4.2 billion deal to buy Equiniti.
Source: crypto.news
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