[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]INTL FCStone Inc. (Nasdaq:INTL), a provider of execution and advisory services in commodities, currencies and international securities, today announced that it has agreed with Cleartrade Exchange (CLTX) to acquire immediate voting control and the right to acquire up to 90% of equity interest over a five-year period. Completion of this transaction is subject to final stages of due diligence and fulfillment of certain conditions.

CLTX is a regulated futures market, providing an electronic global marketplace for commodity futures and OTC cleared derivatives. It is a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The company provides traders, brokers and hedge funds with an electronic orderbook and block trade facility, trade processing, reporting and straight through processing to multiple clearing houses.

“CLTX has rapidly succeeded in becoming an important execution venue for commodity derivatives. We are very impressed with their technical, operational and regulatory implementations undertaken to meet the demands of the changes in global derivatives regulations driven by Dodd-Frank and other G20 mandates. We are looking to leverage our broad global customer base, focused on commercial hedgers, and our expertise in commodities to support the expansion of the Cleartrade Platform. We look forward to working with Richard Baker and his team to realize CLTX's significant potential,” said Scott Branch, President of INTL FCStone.

Richard Baker, Chief Executive Officer of CLTX, said, “I am delighted to have reached this agreement with INTL FCStone. This deal concludes the share issue objectives as outlined in our announcement(http://www.thecleartrade.com/index.php?option=com_...) of 28th February 2013. Following discussions with a number of interested parties we concluded that INTL FCStone was the best partner for CLTX in terms of corporate business synergies of both products and services. CLTX will benefit from leveraging their global business presence and reach. This relationship will deliver the foundations for the growth plans for CLTX and will enhance the trading opportunities for our current and future members. Since the inception of CLTX, it was always our intention to undertake such a partnership at this stage in our strategic roadmap.”

CLTX was founded in February 2010 and began operations in March 2011, when it received its regulatory licence. It now has more than 30 trading members, offering 43 commodity contracts, electronic connections to LCH.Clearnet, SGX and NOS and price distribution via desktop and mobile.

Baker adds: “We were very impressed with the approach and the business ideas that the INTL FCStone executive team brought to the table. Importantly, while both parties will look to explore a range of short- and long-term business synergies, CLTX will retain its autonomy as a regulated exchange with the continued implementation of exchange-related initiatives for the benefit of its exchange members and the market in general.”