SIX Group, the Swiss and Spanish financial market infrastructure, completed its acquisition of Aquis, the UK-based stock exchange, at the beginning of July 2025. Harmonizing trading platforms is a strategic priority as the combined group aims to offer investors a “One Plug, Multiple Trading Venues” experience.

In November last year the two companies said in a statement that their boards agreed to a recommended cash offer made by SIX, which valued Aquis’s share capital at approximately £207m. Bjørn Sibbern, chief executive of SIX, told Markets Media in an email that the acquisition was driven by a clear vision to scale SIX’s exchange business beyond its home markets of Switzerland and Spain.

SIX said it is creating a leading pan-European exchange innovator with an aggregated 15% market share and access to 16 capital markets across Europe and that it is the only exchange group that can provide listing venues in all major European financial centers, including Switzerland, the EU, and the UK.

Sibbern argued that by adding Aquis’s pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) business to SIX’s established primary exchange and data offerings, the group can build on its core strengths.

“The UK remains a strategically significant and attractive market with long-term growth potential,” he added. “Ultimately, it’s about delivering more choice, more innovation, and a more resilient market model.”

Aquis was launched as a start-up subscription based exchange in 2012 with headquarters in London and also has an EU base in Paris. In addition to operating a cash equities MTF which covers 16 European markets, Aquis also licenses proprietary market infrastructure technologies, runs a UK growth stock exchange, and provides market data. Aquis will continue to operate under its established brand, with its existing management team and business model.

Sibbern added that Aquis opens up new growth opportunities, particularly in equity listing and trading, data and technology services.

David Stevens, chief executive of Aquis, said in an email to Markets Media that the business continues to have ambitious growth plans across all four of its divisions. Stevens said: “Together with SIX, we are now able to execute on our growth plans faster and with more certainty, and I’m looking forward to what we are able to achieve together.”

‘One plug, multiple trading venues’

The combined group aims to give clients a “One Plug, Multiple Trading Venues” experience with a single connection providing access to Switzerland, Spain, and the UK to ensure more liquidity, better market access and innovative trading solutions. Sibbern said it is too early to provide information about the schedule as the detailed solution is still being finalized.

“Harmonizing our trading platforms is a strategic priority,” he added. “Initiatives of this scale are influenced by multiple, and also external, factors.”

Sibbern describes Aquis’ infrastructure as efficient and purpose-built to support high-performance trading with minimal latency, which are essential qualities in today’s fast-moving equity markets.

“By combining Aquis’ technology solutions with SIX’s multi-asset class trading, data, and post-trade capabilities, we unlock a truly differentiated proposition to investors,” he argued. “Together with Aquis, we see new avenues we couldn’t access as effectively on our own.’

For example, the acquisition allows SIX to extend the universe of tradable securities and offer improved execution quality, particularly for retail liquidity across Europe. It also supports SIX’s ambition to create a competitive pan-European listing venue, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and growth companies.

“Whilst it is too early to talk about specific technology or protocols of our harmonized platform, we are very excited about the opportunities available to us through the breadth of product offerings across our combined businesses,” added Sibbern.

Following the closure of the acquisition, S&P Global Ratings maintained SIX Group’s credit rating at ‘A’ and revised the outlook from negative to stable on the expectation that the group will maintain its financial leverage below 1.75x.

The ratings agency said in a statement: “S&P expects SIX Group to successfully implement its 2027 strategy and views the acquisition of Aquis as a potential boost to SIX Group’s competitive position.”

Competition

On 8 July 2025 Cboe Europe, which operates a pan-European stock exchange, said it will be launching a retail-focused trading service on its Lit order book on 8 September 2025, subject to receiving the required regulatory non-objections in the Netherlands and the UK. The service will offer brokers free execution of retail orders at or better than the European Best Bid and Offer (EBBO) across 18 European markets.

The European capital market infrastructure, Euronext, is also looking to expand. At the beginning of July 2025 Euronext confirmed that it has entered into discussions with the board of directors of Athex, the Greek capital markets operator, about an acquisition. Euronext is also growing outside equities and has launched the first phase of its multi-year repo expansion initiative to expand access, improve margin efficiency, and challenge legacy models in Europe’s secured financing markets.

Sibbern argued that SIX is differentiated from other pan-European exchanges due to its presence across all major financial jurisdictions in Europe, including Switzerland, the EU, and the UK.

“Through our primary and MTF businesses, we access 16 markets across Europe and we are the only exchange group with listing venues in all these jurisdictions,” he said. “This is all catalyzed by Aquis’s next-generation and zero-legacy trading technology, positioning us as a truly pan-European exchange innovator.”