Institutional trading optimization company Capitolis has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire LMRKTS, an industry-leading multilateral optimization and compression provider.
The proposed acquisition is scheduled to close in the month of August, subject to certain closing conditions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Already a market leader in bilateral compression, structured financing solutions and novations, this proposed acquisition will allow Capitolis to provide banks, asset managers, and hedge funds with the broadest and most complete trade compression solutions available in the market.
Capitolis, which combines deep markets expertise with a Silicon Valley mindset, has a rapidly growing client roster of more than 100 leading global financial institutions. These clients utilize Capitolis’ innovative technology platform to seek out opportunities to free up capital without taking on additional risk. As part of the proposed transaction, the LMRKTS team will join Capitolis, enhancing the depth of the company’s optimization talent and its ability to bring additional capabilities, including multilateral compression, to the market.
“At Capitolis, we are well on our way to meeting our audacious goal of transforming capital markets, guided by the tremendous demand we continue to see from the world’s most significant providers of capital,” said Gil Mandelzis, founder and CEO of Capitolis. “With the addition of the fabulous capabilities Hilary, Sandeep, and the LMRKTS team have built, we will unlock even greater opportunities to expand our product suite and enhance our technology. Together we move one step closer to a transformed, safer, healthier, and more efficient market.”
“I am extremely proud of the company we have built at LMRKTS, and very thankful to our clients and the LMRKTS team whose support has made us a leading multilateral provider in foreign exchange,” said Hilary Park, co-founder and CEO of LMRKTS. “When Sandeep Karkera and I started LMRKTS together with Lucio Biase over eight years ago, demand for network-based optimization services was just starting to accelerate. We have since seen firsthand the far-reaching impact that Capitolis has had on the marketplace over the past four years and know that as one team we will deliver truly exceptional results for our clients. Capitolis shares our vision for the future of capital markets, and we’re proud to be joining forces with them.”
“As a client of both Capitolis and LMRKTS, we are delighted to see them team up and look forward to working with the combined entity moving forward. Capitolis is bringing truly innovative solutions to capital markets, and we support the firm’s ambitious vision for the future,” said Itay Tuchman, Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Citi.
This acquisition follows Capitolis’ recent completion of a $90 million Series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, as well as a string of strategic appointments over the past year, including Stuart Wexler as General Counsel, Jimmy Reilly as Head of Equity and Total Return Swaps Funding Solutions, Jen Vanderwall as Chief People and Culture Officer, and James Kibbe as Head of Structured Funding Origination.
Capitolis is the leading SaaS platform that drives financial resource optimization for capital markets. Founded in 2017 by former Traiana and ICAP executive Gil Mandelzis, its network software enables financial institutions to optimize their balance sheets, which creates a fairer, safer, and healthier marketplace. The company operates from offices in New York, London, and Tel Aviv.