Czech based retail prop trading firm FTMO has announced that it has completed the acquisition of OANDA Global Corporation, one of the world’s leading online trading groups. The transaction has been in process since the beginning of this year, when FTMO signed a purchase agreement with the previous owner, CVC Capital Partners’ CVC Asia Fund IV, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

The parties did not disclose the value of the transaction. FTMO said it plans to maintain the OANDA group as a fully standalone business.

In November, FTMO apparently secured the last necessary regulatory approval, and on December 1, successfully finalized the deal. According to FTMO founders Otakar Šuffner (pictured at top left above) and Marek Vašíček (top right), this marks a key milestone in their journey to build a global trading powerhouse covering modern prop trading, brokerage and other relevant services.

OANDA is a leading global digital platform for active traders, offering multi-asset trading, currency data, and analytics to retail and corporate clients. Since its founding in 1996, OANDA has established regulated entities and leadership teams in many of the world’s most active financial markets, including New York, Toronto, London, Warsaw, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. The group had been owned by the investment fund CVC since 2018.

For FTMO, a leading technology company focused on education and proprietary trading support, this represents another in a series of successful strategic acquisitions.

The successful closing of the transaction was subject to securing approvals from a total of five regulators, a comprehensive process that took approximately eight months. FTMO obtained the final necessary approval in November, and on December 1, FTMO successfully closed the acquisition.

“We will continue to focus on our core business – a modern prop trading platform where we rank among the leaders. The long-term plan is to build a trading powerhouse, which will service traders on all levels – modern prop trading, brokerage with the relevant tools. OANDA, a broker with licenses in eight key markets across the world, is the perfect fit to this vision,” explains Otakar Šuffner, co-founder and CEO of FTMO, regarding the motivation behind the acquisition.

“We are excited to work with OANDA’s team, given their impressive track record in complex regulated markets, strong approach to risk management and customer-centric philosophy. We believe that our connection will be beneficial for the whole market including our customers. Together, we form a unique group of companies with extensive expertise that has not existed on the market up until now,” adds Marek Vašíček, fellow co-founder and CTO of FTMO.

Gavin Bambury (pictured at top middle above), CEO of OANDA, commented,

“Today, we mark a pivotal moment as OANDA officially joins the FTMO ecosystem. OANDA’s strength has always been rooted in our commitment to operating as a client-focused, trusted, regulated global group. This acquisition enables us to significantly accelerate our growth, and to deliver even more innovative, integrated and smarter trading experiences for our clients.”

In connection with the transaction, Milbank LLP (Hong Kong) acted as legal advisor to CVC, while Nomura and Santander served as joint financial advisors. FTMO retained J.P. Morgan as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal advisor.