BDA advises Thomson Reuters & Systex on sale of AFE Solutions to N2N Connect

BDA Partners is pleased to announce Thomson Reuters and Systex Corp (“Systex”), have signed an agreement with N2N Connect Bhd (“N2N”) for the sale of AFE Solutions Ltd (“AFE”). BDA acted as exclusive financial advisor to Thomson Reuters and Systex.

AFE has been a leading provider of financial information and trading software and solutions, for over 25 years. Headquartered in Hong Kong, it has significant operations in Vietnam, Thailand and Macau. AFE has an extensive customer base of regional brokerage firms and Hong Kong and Asian banks. Its product range includes a full-suite of multi-market and multi-instrument platforms for information, stock trading and settlement, and it supports trading and settlement of stocks, warrants, CBBCs, bonds and ETFs, in addition to settlement of options, futures and commodities.

Simon Kavanagh, Managing Director, said “We are delighted to have helped Thomson Reuters and Systex find a new owner for AFE. The acquisition of AFE is a significant step in N2N’s goal of becoming a regional powerhouse in financial trading and information software.”

Paul DiGiacomo, Managing Director, said “This transaction is another successful example of BDA’s expertise in helping multinational corporations with the divestiture of Asian assets to Asian acquirers, and follows on from our recent similar successes with CHS, Sungard and International Paper. BDA helped bring Systex into the business in 2000, and we’re glad to have enjoyed a productive, fifteen year relationship with Thomson Reuters.”

The transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including shareholder approval by N2N’s shareholders, and is expected to close in Q1 2017.