Thomson Reuters to Acquire FXall

Thomson Reuters has agreed to acquire FXall, an independent global provider of electronic foreign exchange trading solutions to corporations and asset managers.

The transaction will bring together two companies with products in the foreign exchange marketplace, one of the largest and most liquid asset classes. FXall and Thomson Reuters have complementary customer bases and long standing relationships with bank liquidity providers, according to Thomson Reuters.

Thomson Reuters is a provider of access to market liquidity and workflow solutions to the inter-bank electronic FX markets. Participants in the FX market use Thomson Reuters to access content and pre-trade analytics, connect to counterparties, find liquidity and trade in regulatory compliant and secure environments.

FXall's leading trading and workflow processes are used by over 1,300 institutional clients including asset managers, corporations, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds, according to FXall.

The acquisition of FXall follows the April announcement that long-time NYSE Euronext technology executive Steve Rubinow joined FXall as its CIO.

"Thomson Reuters and FXall have established leading positions in complementary aspects of electronic FX trading," said Abel Clark, managing director, Marketplaces, Thomson Reuters, in a press release. "This combination will enable us to provide our customers with integrated management of trades though the entire lifecycle, delivering the benefits of a more streamlined trading process and more efficient execution."

"FXall will now have a bigger stage from which to drive greater innovation and growth, with access to Thomson Reuters global reach, standing in the FX community and focus on client solutions," said Phil Weisberg, chairman and chief executive officer, FXall in a statement. "The combined platform allows us to deliver greater value to our clients and employees, building upon the foundation that we have established over the past twelve years."

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter. Under the agreement, Thomson Reuters will launch a tender offer, which is subject to standard regulatory approvals, for the acquisition in the coming days. The FXall Board has unanimously resolved to recommend that all shareholders tender their shares into the offer.

Technology Crossover Ventures, FXall's largest shareholder, Phil Weisberg, chairman and chief executive officer and John Cooley, chief financial officer, who collectively own approximately 32.5% of FXall's outstanding shares, have each agreed to tender their shares into the offer (subject to certain terms and conditions). Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio