ION Investment expands into financial services with OpenLink buy

May 2, 2018

ION Investment Group has agreed to acquire OpenLink Financial, a provider of trading and risk management solutions.

The company said it buy OpenLink from US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for an undisclosed fee.

ION is a provider of trading and workflow automation software solutions to financial institutions, central banks, governments and corporations. OpenLinkâ€™s solutions are â€˜highly complementary to IONâ€™s businessâ€™, with the acquisition expanding its footprint in energy and financial services according to IONâ€™s CEO Andrea Pignataro.

Rich Grossi, CEO of Openlink, addded: â€œObtaining the backing of ION marks an exciting opportunity for Openlink, especially after 25 years of industry leadership. Under IONâ€™s ownership we will continue investing in product innovation to bring market-leading solutions to clients and help address their business challenges.â€

Back in 2011, Hellman & Friedman agreed to buy the business from fellow private equity form The Carlyle Group. Based in Uniondale, New York, OpenLink has offices in 10 countries, providing servicesÂ for the energy, commodities and financial services industries.

Its trading and risk management software for financial services supports multiple asset classes across interest rates, credit, FX, equity, commodity and associated derivative products. It allows financial institutions to clear and report trades and manage collateral, while simultaneously driving down costs and improving efficiency according to its website.

The company provides a single asset management risk solution across all market exposures and hedges, a central Bank risk management software that maximises security, market oversight, trading and control, and an integrated regional bank risk management and secure workflow control. OpenLinkÂ also provides a full suite of market-leading solutions to help organizations comply and keep pace with changing regulatory reporting requirements, including collateral management, swaps data repository, hedge accounting, SDR reporting, OTC clearing workflows and more.

With more 600 clients from the world, Openlinkâ€™s client rooster includes Banco De Mexicon, Bank for International Settlements, Bank Of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of Canada, CoBank, EuropeArabBank, KayBank, Union Bank, and Reserve Bank of New Zealand according to its website.