Country for PR: United States
Contributor: PR Newswire New York
Thursday, July 01 2021 - 09:35
AsiaNet
Cboe Global Markets Completes Acquisition of Chi-X Asia Pacific
CHICAGO, July 1, 2021 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

- Transaction is another step in Cboe's strategy to build one of the world's 
largest global derivatives and securities trading networks

- With a presence in Asia Pacific, Cboe expects to expand its global equities 
and market data businesses, broaden distribution of its proprietary products, 
as well as bring other new trading solutions and services to the region

- Chi-X Asia Pacific planned to be fully integrated into Cboe's existing global 
business operations and technology platforms

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market 
infrastructure and tradable products, today announced it has completed its 
acquisition of Chi-X Asia Pacific Holdings, Ltd. (Chi-X Asia Pacific), an 
alternative market operator and provider of innovative market solutions. 
Through ownership of Chi-X Asia Pacific, Cboe gains entrance into two of the 
world's largest securities markets -- Japan and Australia -- to establish a 
significant presence in the Asia Pacific region for the first time. 

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/622233/Cboe_Logo.jpg

"Welcoming Chi-X Asia Pacific to the Cboe network represents an exciting 
milestone in Cboe's growth story and another important step in our vision to 
become a truly global marketplace for our customers," said Ed Tilly, Chairman, 
President and Chief Executive Officer at Cboe Global Markets. "The team at 
Chi-X Asia Pacific shares Cboe's dedication to defining markets through 
innovative products, services and trading solutions. We look forward to the 
opportunities ahead as we welcome the Chi-X team to the Cboe community and work 
together to accelerate Chi-X Asia Pacific's further growth and extend Cboe's 
global footprint." 

Through Chi-X Asia Pacific, Cboe now has the opportunity to bring new trading 
solutions and services to Asia Pacific, including extending the 
industry-leading block trading capabilities of BIDS Trading to the region. 
BIDS, acquired by Cboe in January 2021, operates the largest block trading ATS 
by volume in the U.S., and one of the largest block trading platforms in 
Europe. With BIDS' current network covering U.S., Europe and expanding into 
Canada, the addition of Asia Pacific is expected to create a global block 
trading platform to serve an even broader base of customers. 

Cboe plans to fully integrate Chi-X Asia Pacific into its existing global 
business operations and technology platforms, beginning with the integration of 
Chi-X Asia Pacific and BIDS. Chi-X Australia and Chi-X Japan are planned to 
migrate to Cboe's state-of-the-art trading platform thereafter. Providing one, 
unified technology platform will help provide market participants greater 
access to Cboe's diverse product set and more efficiency, resiliency and 
functionality when trading across Cboe's markets. 

Vic Jokovic, Chief Executive Officer at Chi-X Australia, said: "Through the 
years, Chi-X Australia has established itself as the country's most innovative 
market operator, consistently delivering best-in-class trading solutions, 
technology and customer service. We couldn't be more excited for the future of 
our exchange as we join the Cboe team and leverage its global resources to 
further our growth and develop new products and services that will benefit the 
Australian markets."
  
Toru Irokawa, Representative Director and President at Chi-X Japan, said: 
"Chi-X Japan has gained tremendous success by providing superior service and 
trading solutions that help deliver best execution and significant cost-savings 
for retail and institutional investors. We look forward to the many 
opportunities that this acquisition will create and expect Cboe to further 
propel our growth, as well as enhance the competitive landscape to help bring 
greater efficiency and resiliency to the Japanese markets." 

Chi-X Asia Pacific positions Cboe to expand its global equities business into 
Asia Pacific and build an unparalleled, high value global market data business 
that is expected to offer data from major markets around the world, including 
the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and 18 European countries. In addition, Cboe 
plans to further broaden investor access to its unique suite of proprietary 
products -- including U.S. index options products based on the S&P 500 Index 
(SPX) and Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) -- to meet growing investor demand 
globally for U.S.-based derivatives products. Cboe plans to extend trading 
hours ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3215168-1&h=3412208785&u=https%3A%2F%2Fir.cboe.com%2Fnews-and-events%2F2021%2F06-15-2021%2Fcboe-extend-global-trading-hours-vix-and-spx-options-nearly-24-hours-beginning-november-21-2021&a=extend+trading+hours 
) for SPX and VIX options to nearly 24 hours a day beginning November 21, 
subject to regulatory approval.

Chi-X Asia Pacific is one of the most successful alternative market operators 
in Asia Pacific, with offices in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the 
Philippines. Chi-X Australia (CXA), the country's second largest securities 
exchange achieving an 18.6 percent total market share1, offers trading in all 
Australian-listed securities, as well as the exclusive trading of CXA quoted 
warrants and ETFs. Chi-X Japan (CXJ), a leading proprietary trading system for 
Japanese equities and third largest equities venue in the country with a 2.5 
percent lit market share2, offers four trading books, including both displayed 
and non-displayed mechanisms. 

Cboe acquired Chi-X Asia Pacific from J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC. Terms of the deal 
were not disclosed, however the company noted that the purchase price is not 
material from a financial perspective and is expected to be nominally accretive 
to the company's adjusted earnings in 2021. Cboe funded the transaction with 
cash on hand and borrowings under its term loan credit agreement. Chi-X Asia 
Pacific generated approximately USD 26 million in net revenue for the 12 months 
ended December 31, 2020, reflecting a 26 percent growth rate compared to the 
prior year, with non-transactional revenue comprising approximately 67 percent 
of the overall 2020 net revenue. For additional background information on Chi-X 
Asia Pacific, see the slide deck available under events and presentations on 
Cboe's Investor Relations website at 
http://ir.cboe.com/events-and-presentations.

Legal advisors to Cboe Global Markets on the transaction were Sidley Austin LLP 
(U.S. and Hong Kong), King & Wood Mallesons (Australia), Nagashima Ohno & 
Tsunematsu (Japan) and SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (Philippines), with 
BofA Securities serving as financial advisor. 

About Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of market infrastructure 
and tradable products, delivers cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment 
solutions to market participants around the world. The company is committed to 
operating a trusted, inclusive global marketplace, providing leading products, 
technology and data solutions that enable participants to define a sustainable 
financial future. Cboe provides trading solutions and products in multiple 
asset classes, including equities, derivatives and FX, across North America, 
Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more, visit www.cboe.com.

About Chi-X Asia Pacific Holdings, Ltd.

Chi-X Asia Pacific Holdings, Ltd. ("Chi-X Asia Pacific") is a leader in driving 
marketplace innovation across the Asia-Pacific region.  For over a decade the 
business has been operating trading venues and generating pioneering products 
and services for the benefit of financial markets and the global trading 
community.  The company believes that modern competition from technology-driven 
markets increases overall market volumes and improves investor performance, 
providing benefits to all participants.  As an alternative market operator, 
Chi-X Asia Pacific operates market centers two of the Asia-Pacific region's key 
securities trading centers in Australia and Japan, while its Chi-TechTM 
technology services units provide technology to its business.  The company 
maintains offices in Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Manila.  For more 
information, visit www.chi-x.com.

	Media Contacts			Analyst Contact
				
Angela Tu                  Tim Cave                  Debbie Koopman
+1-646-856-8734            44 (0) 7593-506-719       +1-312-786-7136
atu@cboe.com   Tim Cave    tcave@cboe.com            koopman@cboe.com


CBOE-C 
CBOE-OE

Cboe(R), Cboe Global Markets(R), Cboe Volatility Index(R), and VIX(R) are 
registered trademarks of Cboe Exchange, Inc.  Chi-X Asia Pacific, Chi-X 
Australia and Chi-X Japan are registered trademarks of Chi-X Asia Pacific 
Holdings, Ltd. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their 
respective owners.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information 
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of 
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of 
risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking 
words such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," 
"believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," and the negative 
of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect 
our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than 
statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These 
forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, 
uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future 
financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in 
our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current 
expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors 
that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or 
achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the 
forward-looking statements.

We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks 
and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict 
all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our 
business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may 
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any 
forward-looking statements.

Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the impact of 
the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, including changes to trading 
behavior broadly in the market; the loss of our right to exclusively list and 
trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and 
market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price 
competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading or clearing 
volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our 
exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes; our ability to protect our 
systems and communication networks from security risks, cybersecurity risks, 
insider threats and unauthorized disclosure of confidential information; 
increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our dependence on and 
exposure to risk from third parties; fluctuations to currency exchange rates; 
our index providers' ability to maintain the quality and integrity of their 
indices and to perform under our agreements; our ability to operate our 
business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the 
costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability 
to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel; our ability to 
minimize the risks, including our credit and default risks, associated with 
operating a European clearinghouse; our ability to accommodate trading and 
clearing volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, 
without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by 
those who use our markets or our products or for whom we clear transactions; 
challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our 
compliance obligations, including managing potential conflicts between our 
regulatory responsibilities and our for-profit status; our ability to maintain 
BIDS Trading as an independently managed and operated trading venue, separate 
from and not integrated with our registered national securities exchanges; 
damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management 
methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; our ability to manage our 
growth and strategic acquisitions or alliances effectively; restrictions 
imposed by our debt obligations and our ability to make payments on or 
refinance our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade 
credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets, investments or 
intangible assets; and the accuracy of our estimates and expectations. More 
detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ 
may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on 
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other filings made from time 
to time with the SEC.

We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any 
forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events 
or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place 
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the 
date hereof.

1Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission equity market data. 
Based on average daily value traded 2021 YTD through May 
2Based on lit market volume 2021 YTD through May

SOURCE: Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Translations

Japanese