IG Group completes $1bn acquisition of US-based broker tastytrade
tastytrade was founded and is led by the entrepreneurial management team who previously created the highly successful options trading platform, thinkorswim, acquired by TD Ameritrade in 2009.
IG Group has completed the $1 billion acquisition of online brokerage and investor education platform tastytrade, which significantly increases the scale and relevance of IG’s existing US business.
tastytrade’s brokerage and trading education platform is used by over 105,000 self-directed investors with active accounts. IG will provide tastytrade with a platform for international expansion.
The transaction is made up of $300 million in cash and the issuance of 61,000,000 new ordinary shares in IG Group to tastytrade shareholders.
The US options and futures market is larger than the global CFD/FX and European Turbo markets combined, boasting an estimated 1.5 million retail traders.
The combined business is well-positioned to take advantage of the exceptional structural growth of self-directed investing in the US.
The management teams for IG and tastytrade will remain in place, but key tastytrade shareholders – comprising Tom Sosnoff (Co-CEO, tastytrade), Kristi Ross (Co-CEO and President, tastytrade), Scott Sheridan (CEO, tastyworks) and Linwood Ma (CTO, tastytrade) – have joined the IG senior leadership team while continuing in their current roles. These executives will collectively own approximately 5.7% of the enlarged share capital of IG.
June Felix, Chief Executive of IG, commented: “This transaction marks an important milestone in the delivery of IG’s growth strategy, diversifying our product offering and significantly strengthening our global footprint.
tastytrade’s approach to retail markets, combining content that is unique and entertaining with deeply quantitative and technical analysis – is now a proven winning formula that will be expanded across the globe using IG Group’s reach.
Tom Sosnoff, Founder and co-CEO of tastytrade, said: “The completion of this deal is a milestone moment for tastytrade. For the past decade, we have worked tirelessly to build a trading ecosystem that challenges self-directed retail investors to think and trade strategically. Our partnership with IG gives us the opportunity to contribute this expertise as part of a global offering that reflects the scope of our ambitions.”
Kristi Ross, co-Founder and co-CEO of tastytrade, said: “The synergies between tastytrade and IG are clear. Together, our mission is to deliver a sophisticated, first-in-class trading experience that puts our clients at the heart of all we do. This distinctive, differentiated offering will allow IG and tastytrade to capitalise on the long-term, structural democratisation of global financial markets.”
Established in 1974 as one of the world’s first providers of financial derivatives to retail traders, IG offers access to over 17,000 financial markets.
tastytrade was founded and is led by the entrepreneurial management team who previously created the highly successful options trading platform, thinkorswim, acquired by TD Ameritrade in 2009.
tastytrade is the parent company to brokerages tastyworks and dough, as well as the Quiet Foundation, a data science-driven, investment advisory service launched in 2018. tastytrade is incubating The Small Exchange, a futures exchange platform focused on retail traders launched in 2020, and is a Zero Hash investor.
