CHICAGO February 5 – The Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc. (CHX) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group (the “Casin Group”). The Board of Directors of CHX has unanimously approved the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2016. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Chicago Stock Exchange CEO and President, John Kerin, commented, “After an in-depth review of strategic alternatives for the exchange, we believe that this acquisition is the best outcome for our clients, shareholders and the trading community as a whole. 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. We look forward to having an active role in improving trading efficiency and the stock exchange’s value proposition to clients and the broader trading community.”
The Casin Group, headquartered in Chongqing, is a leading diversified holding company in China with investments in financial services, real estate and environmental services. “We are honored to partner with CHX,” Casin Group Founder and Chairman, Shengju Lu, said. “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 U.S. investors.”
The investor group intends on preserving CHX’s current business operations and proprietary trading platform, which has demonstrated state-of-the-art capacity, speed and system reliability. Following the close of the transaction, John Kerin will continue to be the CEO and President of CHX and expects CHX’s management team to remain in place.
GCA Savvian Advisors, LLC served as financial advisor and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor to CHX. Broadhaven Capital Partners served as financial advisor and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP served as legal advisor to Casin Group on the transaction. 440 South LaSalle Street Ɣ Suite 800 Ɣ Chicago, Illinois 60605 Ɣ (312) 663-2222
About Chicago Stock Exchange
Founded in 1882, CHX is one of the nation’s oldest full-service national securities exchanges and offers robust and high-performance technology. CHX offers a compact set of order types and innovative trading functionalities, such as CHX|snap, designed to provide a level playing field for all market participants.
About Casin Group
Casin Group is a privately held diversified holding group founded in 1997 with headquarters in Chongqing, China. The company is focused on real estate development, environmental protection industry investment and operation, financial holdings and municipal infrastructure investment and construction. Casin Group has 821 employees with operations across China and abroad, including Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney and other locations.
