Deutsche Börse is to acquire a 75-percent holding plus one share in Tradegate Exchange GmbH, Berlin, with effect from 8 January 2010. Tradegate Exchange GmbH operates the off-exchange trading platform (MTF) TRADEGATE, which has been running successfully since 2001. At the beginning of 2010 it will commence operation as a stock exchange; the former MTF TRADEGATE will receive the status of “Regulated market within the meaning of MiFID”, becoming Tradegate Exchange.
Deutsche Börse AG will also acquire a 5-percent share in Tradegate AG Wertpapierhandelsbank, one of the market makers in TRADEGATE/the future Tradegate Exchange. Deutsche Börse will also have the option of gradually increasing its share in Tradegate AG to a maximum of 20 percent.
Deutsche Börse is investing an amount in the single-figure million euro range for its share in Tradegate Exchange GmbH and the initial 5-percent holding in Tradegate AG.
“The transition of the successful MTF TRADEGATE into a regulated trading venue as Tradegate Exchange is an opportunity for Deutsche Börse to employ its core competency and to operate an additional stock exchange in Germany. Our common objective is to expand retail business across Europe,” said Frank Gerstenschläger, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse AG and responsible for the Xetra business area.
“The market share of the MTF TRADEGATE has grown continuously and significantly in recent years. This shows that our strategy to develop a trading platform in tune with the needs of private investors has borne fruit. We are pursuing further growth of the platform into the rest of Europe with Deutsche Börse’s renown and strength in terms of distribution,” said Holger Timm, CEO of Tradegate AG.
Deutsche Börse’s majority interest in Tradegate Exchange GmbH will serve to expand its trading offering for private investors and strengthen its position in the European retail market; with the Tradegate Exchange, it will be operating a platform which offers particularly online brokers new trading functions, longer trading hours and innovative order types at attractive prices.