(Alliance News) - Plus500 will expand into the American futures market by acquiring Cunningham Commodities LLC for USD30 million, it said on Wednesday
According to Plus500, a Haifa, Israel-based online trading platform, the acquisition represented a "major growth opportunity" due to an increasing focus on futures exchanges catering to retail investment in recent years.
Based in Chicago, Cunningham Commodities is a futures commission merchant while its tech arm, Cunningham Trading Systems, is a futures and options trading platform provider. Plus500 has conditionally agreed to acquire all of the membership interests of both Cunningham and its trading platform.
The total acquisition cost of USD30 million will be funded from Plus500’s existing cash reserves and paid on completion. Plus500 said it had seen strong financial results during the first three months of 2021, with a 121% increase in revenue to USD203.2 million from USD91.9 million in the previous quarter.
"We are delighted to announce Plus500's first acquisition and first entry into the US market," said Chief Executive David Zruia.
"With a combination of Plus500's best-in-class technology and Cunningham's and CTS's existing infrastructure, we expect to develop and scale the business in the growing US market and deliver long term shareholder value.
"Our long-term ambition is to enable simplified, universal access to financial markets, and I'm excited that we have taken a further step toward achieving this today."
Plus500 shares were up 2.0% to 1,525.32 pence in London.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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