Jul 10, 2017
Edison Partners Exits OptionsCity Software
Global Electronic Trading Solutions Provider Acquired by Vela Trading Technologies
Princeton, N.J.—July 10, 2017—Edison Partners today announced the closing of the sale of Chicago-based OptionsCity Software to Vela Trading Technologies LLC, a global leader in high-performance trading and market data technology. While terms of the transaction were not disclosed publicly, Edison Partners confirmed a strong return for shareholders of OptionsCity.
Since its product launch in 2008, OptionsCity has powered the trading, risk management, and analytics needs of professional futures and options traders, market-makers, and financial institutions worldwide. Flagship product, Metro, has become the market leader in the options market-making space with significant growth with institutional traders. The company added to its innovative offerings with the launch of CityTrader and City API. The City platform is now used by TradeStation, Thomson Reuters and others, expanding the availability of futures and options products to a global trading audience.
The acquisition will accelerate OptionsCity’s growth strategy and provide its clients with access to additional asset classes and geographies as well as new market data products. Since Edison’s initial growth equity investment in the company in 2013, OptionsCity has grown its team, introduced new products to the market, and transitioned its customer base into larger institutions and banks. In addition, OptionsCity was able to expand globally with offices in New York and London which realized significant growth over the past few years.
“OptionsCity has consistently met traders’ need for a multi-asset trading platform where they can instantly deploy new strategies,” said Chris Sugden, Edison Partners’ Managing Partner and OptionsCity board member. “With continued innovation, the company has scaled to win greater global market share. We are excited for Hazem and the OptionsCity team on their success as it begins this next phase of growth with Vela.”
“Chris and the Edison team were tremendous in helping us achieve our goals,” said Hazem Dawani, co-founder and CEO of OptionsCity. “Their strategic guidance through the Edison Edge has provided us with valuable advice on governance, leadership selection, product roadmaps and other areas over the years. They have been truly committed to the success of our company and team.”
Edison Partners’ Financial Technology practice has financed 43 companies in the sector since the firm’s founding. Notable exits include Edgetrade, FolioDynamix, GAIN Capital, Liberty Tax and Princeton Financial. Current investments include: Axial, BFS Capital, Billtrust, Clearpool Group, ComplySci, GAN Integrity, MoneyLion, OptionsCity, Predata, Scivantage, and Trader Tools.
About OptionsCity Software
OptionsCity Software powers the trading, risk management and analytics needs of futures and options traders, market makers, financial institutions and other market participants worldwide. OptionsCity is a certified Independent Software Vendor and a leading source of electronic options trading volume on global derivatives exchanges. For more information, please visit www.optionscity.com.
About Edison Partners
For 30 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams navigate the entrepreneurial journey and build successful companies. Through the unique combination of growth capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of operating leverage, the Edison Director Network, and executive education, Edison employs a holistic approach to accelerating growth and creating value for businesses ($5 to $20 million in revenue) in financial, healthcare, enterprise and marketing technology sectors. Edison’s active portfolio has created aggregate market value exceeding $10 billion. Its long-tenured team based in Princeton, N.J., manages more than $1 billion in assets throughout the eastern United States.
