M&A deal of the year: Ryan Nettles’ Guru Capital completes acquisition of British FX broker ETX Capital

Guru Capital today announced the closing of its acquisition of London based ETX Capital, one of the fastest growing international providers of multi-asset CFD products from UK private equity firm, JRJ Group. The transaction is closing after receiving approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Additionally, Guru Capital partners Luca Merolla and Ryan Nettles have been appointed as non-executive directors to the ETX Capital Board of Directors.

Founded in 1965, ETX Capital has become one of the UK’s leading online brokers. Guru Capital intends to leverage the strong ETX Capital brand, its proprietary technology and its talented team to expand the business in the UK. The team also intends to grow the business globally through M&A activities.

Ryan Nettles, Managing Partner of Guru Capital, is a seasoned executive with extensive understanding of the FX industry, having spent several years at senior level at Swissquote in Gland, Switzerland, previously heading up important departments of brokerages in North America.

Established in June 2019,  Guru Capital set about its immediate task of seeking investment opportunities to acquire companies in the EMEA and APAC regions which have a special focus on the FX & CFD brokerage sector, asset management, and FinTech.

For Mr Nettles, who formed Guru Capital alongside Luca Merolla, who had also previously worked at Swissquote, the completion of the acquisition of a long established British electronic trading company with substantial standing represents a very good initial milestone.

As far as acquisitions go, this was a relatively quick route to completion, the initial offer having been accepted by ETX Capital at the end of May this year.