Acquisition of the Year: Intercontinental Exchange

The deal, completed at the end of 2015, is set to expand ICE’s data footprint, adding technology platforms and new data and valuation services. Lynn Martin, president and COO, ICE Data Services, says: “Our acquisition of Interactive Data enables us to expand our services and innovate to help our customers grow their businesses by addressing opportunities in the changing dynamics, particularly in the fixed-income markets.”

The new entity has already made a mark, launching the first set of ICE US Treasury Indices based on Interactive Data’s track record of fixed-income evaluations in February and, right now, the exchange is in the process of integrating Interactive Data’s 7ticks infrastructure with ICE’s connectivity and secure financial transaction infrastructure network. In terms of fixed income, ICE sees opportunities in relation to illiquid asset classes, and Interactive Data has already responded to market changes by developing Liquidity Indicators to help firms manage liquidity risk, and its Best Execution service for fixed-income markets—two new releases leveraging the Interactive Data continuous evaluated pricing service.

“It’s a very exciting time with many opportunities both at the company and industry level, and we expect to release additional products and services in the near future,” says Martin. With a drive towards increased transparency and growing demand for data, there are clear opportunities for growth for the new powerhouse, which users deem a good match considering the vote of confidence.