BATS adds two more ETFs while preparing $2 billion valuation IPO
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent on April 4, it became clear what BATS Global Markets’ goals for the IPO were: to raise $244 million by selling 11.2 million shares at a price between $17 and $19 each, with underwriters having the option of purchasing up to an […]

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent on April 4, it became clear what BATS Global Markets’ goals for the IPO were: to raise $244 million by selling 11.2 million shares at a price between $17 and $19 each, with underwriters having the option of purchasing up to an additional 1.7 million shares, valuing the company at up to $2 billion.
Once the offering on its own BATS BZX Exchange is completed, the thirteen banks and brokers proprietors of Bats will retain 82% of the voting power of the company’s capital stock. Among them are JP Morgan, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Today, BATS Global Markets announced the inclusion of two new ETFs from WisdomTree to its U.S. market: WisdomTree Markets Divided Fund (BATS: DVEM) and WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund (BATS: IQDG), bringing the total number of WisdomTree ETFs listed on Bats to 13.
BATS executed 22.4% of all ETF trading in 2015 in the US, ranking #1 for the ETF market and #2 for overall equities trading in that year. The company more than doubled the number of ETFs listed on the US market to 72 since 2015, offering to pay ETF providers as much as $400,000 to list them on its exchange.
On April 1, BATS Global Markets closed a deal with ETF.com, a website that generated 875.572 pageviews in February 2016. No financial terms of the acquisition were disclosed.
BATS Global Markets, Inc. expanded into the foreign exchange territory in 2015 after buying currency-trading venue Hotspot FX from KCG Holdings Inc. for $365 million in cash and additional payments.
This year’s IPO is BATS second attempt at it, since a series of glitches forced the company to withdraw, in 2012. Back then, the company was asking for a valuation of $760 million.