Francisco Partners Invests Over $100 Million in FX Solutions

High-frequency trading operations in the foreign currency market definitely are on the private equity firms' radar, says Thomas Plaut, cofounder of Saddle River, N.J.-based FX Solutions. Founded in 2001, FX Solutions just recapitalized with more than $100 million from Menlo Park, Calif.-based Francisco Partners.

Operating as a market maker and principal counterparty, FX Solutions provides a global trading system to retail and institutional clients, offering access to the spot FX market across 20 currency pairs. The forex trading firm has 20,000-plus active accounts and fewer than 60 employees, he notes.

According to David Golob, managing director at Francisco Partners, "It's inevitable that the [FX] market will be transformed because of the rise in electronic trading platforms." As such, he says he views FX Solutions as a growth investment. "It's early, but we think the company is in a market that is attractive with the potential to take it public over time," Golob explains.

FX Solutions

Size of Investment: $100+ million

Date of Deal: April 2007

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio