IG Group (LON: IGG) has acquired Freetrade, a commission-free investment platform, for £160 million to further expand its offerings in the United Kingdom. According to the announcement today (Thursday), the deal will be funded in cash from IG’s existing capital resources.
Although the two firms have agreed on the acquisition deal, it is now pending for regulatory approvals, which is expected to come in mid-2025.
IG Expanding Its UK Presence
“This is a rare opportunity to strengthen IG’s UK trading and investments offering and broaden our target addressable market,” said Breon Corcoran, CEO of IG.
Freetrade offers over 6,200 global stocks and ETFs, fractional shares, UK Treasury bills, ISAs, SIPPs, securities lending, and proxy voting. It was launched in 2018 and has onboarded 720k customers with an asset under management of £2.5 billion as of the end of 2024.
It also generated £27.5 million in revenue in 2024, a year-over-year jump of 32 per cent. It has also diversified its revenue streams by splitting them across subscriptions, foreign exchange transaction fees, and interest income.
With the acquisition, IG is expected to achieve a return on invested capital in excess to its weighted average cost of capital in years three to five.
“This is an exciting opportunity to accelerate our growth and delivery of new products and features on our award-winning platform,” said Viktor Nebehaj, CEO and co-founder of Freetrade. “IG’s vision for Freetrade is closely aligned with our own and its backing will be of huge benefit as we continue to scale the business.”
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.
Source link
