LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Institutional investor demand for dark poolscontinued in the month after Brexit, with Turquoise, the London Stock Exchange's(LSE) alternative trading facility, reporting a record level of block tradingactivity in July.
Turnover in Turquoise's Block Discovery platform, which is aimed at largeinvestors moving big blocks of shares, hit more than 600 million euros ($664.02million), exceeding volumes seen in June.
Dark pools are popular with institutional investors trading in big amountsas they limit the market impact of a large order in the market.
Large trades around merger and acquisition activity, in particular Japan'sSoftbank agreeing to buy ARM Holdings as well as the ongoing dealbetween AB Inbev and SABMiller, also helped boost volumes, thefirm told Reuters.
"In cases of high volatility, e.g M&A or Brexit, the service hasdemonstrated that it offers block liquidity for investors wanting to move verylarge orders quickly and without moving the market," said Robert Barnes, thechief executive of Turquoise.
Overall, Turquoise had a 17 percent share of dark pool trading in Europe inJuly, making it the third largest venue behind BATS Europe and UBS'multi-lateral trading facility, according to Thomson Reuters Market ShareReporter. ($1 = 0.9036 euros) (Reporting by Atul Prakash, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)