ASX Offers to Buy 49% Stake in Yieldbroker

   By Robb M. Stewart 
 

MELBOURNE, Australia--Australia's main securities exchange will join a host of banks as an investor in specialist electronic-markets company Yieldbroker, offering to buy a 49% stake for 65 million Australian dollars (US$58 million).

ASX Ltd.'s planned shareholding would be non-controlling and Yieldbroker would remain independently managed, the exchange said in a statement Thursday.

Elmer Funke Kupper, managing director and chief executive of ASX, said the investment would complement the bourse's exchange-traded derivatives, over-the-counter clearing and collateral management services.

"ASX sees an opportunity for ASX and Yieldbroker to work together to deliver the next generation of Australia's financial market trading infrastructure," he said, adding ASX could support Yieldbroker's plans to grow in domestic and international markets.

Founded in 1999 by banks in local debt markets, Yieldbroker operates electronic markets for trading more than 800 Australian and New Zealand debt securities and interest-rate derivatives, including government bonds, treasury notes, corporate bonds and bank bills. More than 100 banks and financial institutions globally are connected to Yieldbroker's markets, trading an average of A$130 billion a month.

Yieldbroker also operates the auction platform for debt securities issued by the Australian and New Zealand governments and several Australian state governments.

If ASX's acquisition is completed, the bourse would become an investor alongside Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd., Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, J.P. Morgan, Macquarie Group Ltd., National Australia Bank Ltd., Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Toronto-Dominion Bank, UBS AG and Westpac Banking Corp.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

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