Capital Markets Tech

Dear Clients and Friends,

Our latest report on trends and values in Capital Markets Technology is here.

As with the rest of the world, our industry continues to be buffeted by the global pandemic, economic chaos, and social unrest. Wall Street firms that were already under pressure to meet increased regulatory requirements, leverage new technologies and, at the same time, reduce costs – find that pressure markedly increased now.  Many have been forced to reduce headcount. M&A activity has slowed significantly.    

The good news is that our industry is better prepared to weather this crisis than most. Global regulations and financial reforms enacted after the Great Recession have helped strengthen balance sheets and procedures worldwide. Electronic trading and technological advances have allowed most Wall Street firms – and most capital markets technology firms – to continue operating at full capacity – while most employees are off site. We see Capital Markets Technology players across every sub-vertical continuing to enhance and develop products in anticipation of a resurgent economy. And we see signs of nascent recovery in the industry and in the m&a deal market, as Wall Street firms increasingly look to Capital Markets Technology vendors to provide sophisticated tools that are more effective and more efficient than they now have – investors look to take advantage of potential bargains and some vendors with cash look to consolidate. 

Its not easy to invest or acquire when people can’t meet face to face. And yet, as you will see in our report, the rumors of the death of the deal market are somewhat exaggerated, as evidenced by transactions such as:

• Coinbase finally acquiring Tagomi, a prime brokerage platform specializing in digital asset trading,
• SGX’s acquisition of the remaining 80% stake of BidFX (former M&A client) for $128mm,
• Derivative Path taking in $35mm in growth capital from FTV (cloud-based trading technology for asset managers assists their over-the-counter IRD and FX transactions); and
• MayStreet’s $21mln raise from Credit Suisse Asset Management’s NEXT Investors (market data infrastructure platform).  

Our full report is here.

Please feel free to reach out to me (Max@marlinllc.com) with any questions. We are happy to share what we are witnessing in the Capital Markets Technology sector.

Marlin & Associates is one of the most active investment banking and strategic advisory firms, providing trusted counsel to middle-market companies worldwide that offer enterprise and vertical application software, services, data and analytics – including firms across FinTech ecosystem (Capital Markets, InsurTech, BankTech, Payments, WealthTech, LegalTech, GRC, Digital Tech, Business Intelligence, and Market Intelligence). Over the course of 18+ years we have advised more than 200 companies in 27 countries. Over the past 18 months we have advised on 18 successful m&a transactions. When you are ready, we would be pleased to discuss how we may be able to advise your firm.

Kind regards,

Max