LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that China based Formax Group’s acquisition late last year of social / copy trading platform provider ZuluTrade, and related companies, was concluded at a price of USD $12.41 million.
Formax actually acquired a lot more than just the ZuluTrade name, technology and platform. Indeed, when breaking down the purchase price, most of the amount was paid in respect of another company Formax got as part of the deal called Dayo Innovative Trading Ltd., the Greece-based and licensed online brokerage operating under the brand AAAFX.com.
Dayo was the company that actually held the patents for ZuluTrade owner Leon Yohai-Giochais’ auto trading patents. The AAAFX.com entity has more than 30,000 registered clients, and had run-rate annual EBITDA of about $3 million at the time of the deal.
In addition to ZuluTrade and Dayo / AAAFX.com, the acquisition also included ZuluTrade Japan, which holds a JFSA Investment Advisor license.
The overall $12.41 million payment for ZuluTrade (and the related entities) broke down as follows:
- Signing Payment of $1 million, due when the deal was first signed in June 2017;
- Dayo completion payment of $3 million, after approval of the deal was received by the Greek financial regulator;
- Zulu NV completion payment of $5.93 million;
- Final payment of $2.48 million.
All regulatory approvals for the deal were finalized by October 2017.
The deal was brokered by a company called FLS Capital, a Singapore based independent boutique consulting firm specializing in the FX sector run by Tarun Tandon. Mr. Tandon was formerly Asia Head of FX and OTC Energy at MF Global in Singapore.
Formax Group was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs Bill Wang and Charles Mao in 2012. After raising VC funds, Formax received a Hong Kong license in early 2014, and in 2015 obtained an FCA license for a new UK subsidiary. The UK entity is headed by former Saxo Bank executive David Rapp.