Citadel Securities, a leading global market maker, announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement to acquire IMC’s Designated Market Making (DMM) business on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Following the close of the transaction, Citadel Securities will reinforce its position as the largest DMM on the NYSE both by number of securities and by market cap.

“We are thrilled to further extend our presence at the New York Stock Exchange,” said Joe Mecane, Head of Execution Services for Citadel Securities. “We look forward to building new relationships and bringing the benefits of our leading liquidity offering and exceptional client service to the additional issuers who will be joining us as a result of this transaction.”

Through its role as a DMM, Citadel Securities supports capital formation and the growth of NYSE-listed companies by providing best-in-class execution quality and client service to issuers. Citadel Securities has been a DMM on the NYSE since 2016.

In addition to overseeing daily trading in more than 1,500 NYSE-listed securities, the firm also regularly supports IPOs and direct listings, including the groundbreaking listing of Spotify in 2018. It has been selected for more than 60% of all listings that have come to market on NYSE since 2016, including all four direct listings, more than 90% of SPACs, and more than 80% of all listings year to date.

IMC has been a DMM on the NYSE since 2014, when it acquired Goldman Sachs’ DMM business. Since 2014, IMC has expanded its market making operations with an increased focus on ETFS and options and has also increased its U.S. operations almost two-fold to nearly 400 people in support of its trading operations growth. The sale of the DMM business at this time, which represents a small portion of its overall U.S. operations, is consistent with IMC’s growth strategy. IMC is committed to growing its ETF and options business, as evidenced by its ongoing performance as a Lead Market Maker in over 150 ETFs and a Lead Market Maker in over 500 Options classes, as well as registered market maker in all products it trades.

“The DMM business provided IMC with many benefits since we acquired it six years ago. The decision to sell our DMM business at this time is in line with IMC’s growth strategy, which focuses on our core strengths –market making, advanced technology and deep liquidity,” said Sunny Khiani, managing director for IMC’s U.S. operations. “After an extensive process, we are excited to be able to execute this business transfer with Citadel Securities, as we know our issuers will continue to be well-served by their DMM expertise.”

Citadel Securities trades in more than 35 countries around the world and provides liquidity in a variety of products across fixed income, equities, derivatives, ETFs and FX. It is the #1 equity and options market maker in the U.S., accounting for over 28% of total daily consolidated U.S. equity volume and 32% of U.S. equity options volume. The firm is also the #1 retail equity market maker in the U.S., responsible for over 40% of retail equity volume and has a robust FICC business that serves more than 1,400 institutional clients across 53 countries.

The transaction, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2020, is subject to the completion of a definitive agreement and other customary closing conditions. Until the transaction closes, each DMM business will continue to operate independently.

Source: Citadel