Published: November 4, 2021
The mostly-manual bond sale and trading process has taken another step toward digitisation, with a new company launching to automate primary sales while a secondary credit trading firm has received a US$208mn equity investment to grow its platform.
Trumid, an electronic credit trading platform, announced the new financing from a handful of private equity firms. Meanwhile, a pair of high ranking EMEA syndicate bond bankers have launched a company called BondAuction, which aims to automate parts of the primary issuance process as an alternative to traditional syndication.
Trumid’s financing was led by Point Break Capital Management, with specialist private equity firm with a focus on technology investments Motive Partners providing a significant portion of the investment.
“We see great potential for the creation of long-term value in the business and expect this round of funding to enable the company to achieve its expansion plans,” said Ashwin Kumar, industry partner at Motive Partners.
Other major names also provided investment in this funding round, including Blackrock, Senator Investment Group, TPG Capital and T Rowe Price. Bank of America was placement agent on the transaction.
Trumid’s trading platform has seen daily trading grow by almost seven times over the last two years. This year, average daily volume is up 71% compared to the same period in 2020. The company offers access to US corporate bonds, and has recently added emerging market debt – an expansion that the company says will benefit from the involvement of Point Break Capital Management, a firm with strong presence in Latin America.
The equity injection will also be used to enhance the company’s “technology, and to expand its footprint to include additional trading protocols, asset classes and geographies”, Trumid said in a statement.
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