ICE to acquire TMX Atrium from TMX Group
15th February, 2017|Merle Crichton
ICE said TMX Atrium is to become part of its vast Data Services business
Canada's TMX Group said it has entered into an agreement to sell its wirelessand extranet infrastructure services business, TMX Atrium, to US exchange IntercontinentalExchange.
The transaction is expected to close within 90 days, subjectto regulatory approvals, ICE said in a statement on Wednesday.
London-headquartered TMX Atrium provides low latency connectivityacross 12 countries (more than 30 major trading venues) and ultra-low latencywireless connectivity between the Toronto, New York and Chicago metro areas.
The financial impact of the transaction will be immaterial andwas included in ICE’s financial guidance for 2017, according to ICE, run by chief executive Jeff Sprecher. Terms ofthe agreement were not disclosed.
Following the acquisition, TMX Atrium will become part ofICE Data Services and will be integrated with the company’s STFI - a privatenetwork offering global connectivity solutions for accessing markets and data.
In addition, specialist network provider Anova Technologieswill also provide secure financial transaction infrastructure (SFTI) Wireless,which offers the fastest connectivity between ICE’s Mahwah data centre andother facilities in Carteret and Secaucus, New Jersey.
“With the addition ofTMX Atrium, we are enhancing our service to customers by expanding the researchand access of SFTI,” said Lynn Martin, president and COO of ICE Data Services. “Thisincludes adding the lowest-latency connection between Toronto and New York, akey hub for North American financial market participants.”
TMX said it made the decision within the scope of TMX’songoing strategy to streamline its organisational structure.
“The sale of the TMX Atrium business is the result of ashift in our strategic focus from infrastructure services to providingintellectual property-based analytics solutions that drive client investmentdecisions,” said Eric Sinclair, president of TMX Market Insights and group headof information services.
Marlin & Associates assumed the role of financialadvisor to TMX for the connection.
ICE appointed Jonathan Reeve as its global head ofconnectivity and consolidated feed business in November 2016. He reports to Martin, who was appointed president and COO of ICE Data Services inJanuary 2016.
In August last year, UBS announced it was partnering withNetwork Time Protocal (NTP) and TMX Atrium on a new product, NPLTime. The cross-assetoffering is directly connected to coordinated universal time (UTC) in order toeliminate a reliance on GPS, using TMX Atrium’s connectivity network.
