Archipelago Holdings, the Chicago-based company that operates the ArcaEx electronic stock market, had been considered to be the likely buyer of Instinet. According to the Financial Times, Archipelago had been lining up a deal for Instinet, valued at between $2bn and $3bn.
More recent reports have however suggested that America’s Nasdaq and Chicago stock exchanges could now also offer cash bids for Instinet. Reuters had originally admitted to be considering selling its 62% stake in Instinet in November of last year.
Archipelago is believed to be particularly interested in Inet, Instinet’s electronic communication network, as opposed to the company’s institutional brokerage business.
Last week, Archipelago reported a 6% growth in its fourth-quarter revenue based on improved results from market data fees. While its profit grew slightly to $12.5 million, from $12.4 million during the same period the previous year, revenue rose to $138.7 million from $131.4 million.
