Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announced today that it completed the sale of its U.S. fixed income business, Nasdaq Fixed Income (NFI), to Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: TW), a leading global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets.
The sale was initially announced February 2, 2021.
The decision to sell NFI aligns with Nasdaq’s corporate strategy to concentrate its resources and capital to maximize its potential as a major technology and analytics provider to the global capital markets.
As previously disclosed, upon the closing of the sale of NFI, Nasdaq’s contingent obligation to issue Nasdaq shares to BGC Partners, L.P. or its assignees was reduced (pursuant to the discounting adjustment provisions set forth in the original purchase agreement for Nasdaq's acquisition of the business) and accelerated. At the closing, Nasdaq issued approximately 6.2 million shares of Nasdaq to Newmark SPV I, LLC, an assignee of BGC Partners, L.P.
Nasdaq intends to use the proceeds from the sale of NFI, available tax benefits and NFI working and clearing capital, as well as other sources of cash, to repurchase shares in order to offset longer-term dilution to non-GAAP earnings per share.
