VEDOMOSTI. Forex Club, one of the leading FX market operators in Russia, decided to turn into a universal online broker and later stage an IPO, Vedomosti business daily wrote on Friday.
As the media wired, direct investment fund Quadro Capital Partners (QCP) acquired a minority interest in Forex Club Group.
Forex Club is going to expand business to turn into a full-service online broker. The new partner led by former Troika Dialog executives could help the company roll out equity and derivative trading, including abroad (the group carries on business in 120 countries), and also build a company based on the principles of Charles Schwab, one of the world’s leading Internet brokers, said Vyacheslav Taran, the company’s board chairman and co-founder.
To this end Forex Club intends to obtain relevant licenses from the Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM). The authority issued the first one (of a stock market intermediary) last autumn.
In four to five years Forex Club intends to go public, said Taran and QCP managing partner Gedryus Pucas. By that time the company, according to Pucas, should be worth around $1 bln.
Another reason behind the appearance of a partner is that it has expertise in IPO arrangement, noted Taran adding “the offering is not a goal in and of itself, but will definitely be one of the stages of the company’s development”. According to Pucas, Quadro Capital will get a board seat, but will not interfere with the company’s operations. He did not disclose any expected returns on the money invested in Forex Club.
“At issue is a gradual development of a wide lineup of trading and investment products for retail customers," Taran specified.
“Returns of FX brokers are 5—10x higher than from classical brokerage services," noted Finam president Vladislav Kochetkov saying this is really expensive, growing business. “At Finam, for example, FX customers we hooked up equaled those who trade on the securities market”. Obtaining stock market licenses, FX brokers, he thinks, “most likely pursue image-related goals and are no really interested in this business”.
“Companies operating on the FX market exist worldwide and successfully carry on business on exchanges," said Pucas in the hope to repeat success in Russia.
