Appital, the equity capital markets technology solution firm, and Turquoise, the pan-European MTF, majority owned by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) have launched Appital Turquoise BookBuilder.
The automated electronic platform modernises an historically manual and opaque process and provides buyside with control over the entire book building process.
Buyside firms not only benefit from liquidity discovery and price formation opportunities for illiquid equity positions, but also have the ability to execute large volumes on the regulated Turquoise MTF, often in multiple days’ average daily trading volume (ADV), with minimal market impact or risk of price erosion.
The launch came after Appital enhanced its infrastructure with the integration of EMS providers FlexTrade, FactSet Portware, TS Imagine, and executing brokers Bernstein and Instinet.
It said that the Turquoise integration will offer buyside companies straight-through-processing (STP) to over 20 settlement destinations.
“The launch of Appital Turquoise BookBuilder represents a step change for the asset management industry in the way they unlock and proactively drive liquidity in the market, ushering in a new era of automation in equity markets,” said Mark Badyra, CEO of Appital.
He added, “From today, the buyside community has greater exposure to deal flow opportunities they have not been able to access before, and investors can interact with like-minded institutions in the liquidity and price formation process.”
Dr Robert Barnes, group head of securities trading & CEO Turquoise Global Holdings at LSEG, noted, “Appital Turquoise BookBuilder delivers the next significant efficiency for asset managers and contributors of capital.
Where book building is the appropriate mechanism to find the right price for large block trades, Appital Turquoise BookBuilder innovates with the world’s first automation of buyside bookbuilding seamlessly integrating STP trading to settlement.”
Norges Bank Investment Management was the first to originate and execute a trade, through a series of bilateral transactions.
“Unlocking latent liquidity and executing multiple days’ ADV is essential to achieving our investment objectives,” said Emil Framnes, Norges Bank Investment Management’s Global Head of Trading and Transition.
Over 30 asset managers, collectively managing more than$30 trillion, are in the process of joining Appital, a number that is set to increase significantly now that Appital Turquoise BookBuilder™ is live, according to the company.
It added that Appital is proactively engaging with European asset managers to increase the depth of available opportunities and liquidity within the platform.
