Marex Spectron Buys Another Chicago Broker in U.S. Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- Marex Spectron Group Ltd. is pressing ahead with its North American expansion by acquiring another brokerage in Chicago.

The London-based firm agreed to buy X-Change Financial Access, or XFA, a dealer with more than 100 employees which also has offices in New York and San Francisco, the company said in a statement. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed and the transaction is expected to close on Friday.

Marex Spectron has been boosting its presence in North America, having in recent years acquired Rosenthal Collins Group, a traditional Chicago brokerage, and expanded its over-the-counter unit to the region. This year, it hired a team of 12 brokers from ABN Amro Bank NV in Chicago and brought in Ram Vittal from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to lead the North American business.

“This acquisition will be an important building block in our plans to expand in North America, which is our fastest-growing region,” said Ian Lowitt, Marex Spectron’s chief executive officer. The deal “creates opportunities to cross-sell our products, including clearing services.”

XFA is best known for dealing in equity options, with the firm’s trades accounting for more than half of the volumes in the S&P 500 Index options in the whole of 2019. The company also handles futures and options including eurodollar, treasury and commodity transactions, and is one of the leading brokers by volume on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, or Cboe.

XFA’s business will continue to be led by founder Tim Hendricks and managing partners Peter Scheffler and William Ellington. They will report to Vittal. North America accounts for about a third of Marex Spectron’s revenue and the broker has previously said it wants to grow that to half.

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