An investor group led by Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group (Casin Group) has agreed to buy the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) in the first purchase of a US exchange by a Chinese firm.
Terms of the deal, which is still subject to US regulatory approval, have not been disclosed, but Bloomberg cites a person familiar with the matter as saying it values the exchange at less than $100 mn.
CHX’s CEO and president, John Kerin, will remain in his posts and the exchange’s management is expected to remain in place, the exchange says in a press release issued by CHX and the buyers. The investor group also intends to maintain the current business operations and proprietary trading platform of CHX, which account for about 0.5 percent of US trading volume.
‘After an in-depth review of strategic alternatives for the exchange, we believe this acquisition is the best outcome for our clients, shareholders and the trading community as a whole,’ Kerin says. ‘With our new investment partners, we will have significant additional resources to pursue our new business initiatives, including the launch of our on-demand auction product, CHX SNAP, in the spring of 2016.’
Casin Group is a diversified, privately held holding group founded in 1997 in Chongqing, China. It specializes in real estate development, municipal infrastructure construction, the environmental protection industry and financial holdings, the release says.
‘We are honored to partner with CHX,’ says Casin Group founder and chairman Shengju Lu in the release. ‘We have reviewed CHX’s plans to improve market share through new growth initiatives and fully support them. Together, we have a unique opportunity to help develop financial markets in China over the longer term and to bring exciting Chinese growth companies to US investors.’
