18 May 2022, Paris, Horizon Software, a global leading vendor in Market Making and Algo Trading Technology, announces today that Sagard NewGen has acquired a majority stake in the firm, alongside a management buy-out, to support expansion into new markets and strategic capabilities.
Sagard NewGen will take over Capza’s majority stake, demonstrating their commitment to Horizon’s development on a global scale. Across the past two years with Capza, Horizon has successfully developed a single cross asset platform for market making, agency trading and algo trading, alongside with portable and scalable trading services around pricing, trading, risk, and market connectivity.
With this new investment, Horizon will focus on expanding its Trading-as-a-Service offering – bringing together agency trading and market making on one platform – scaling up the asset classes that are covered to meet increased client demand for digital assets. Horizon will also better serve clients through innovation and implementation of new trading services, such as DMA and DSA order routing, enhancing its capabilities to handle high-volume order flows from clients to the market.
Further, this will allow the firm to grow its current hubs in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and expand into new geographies. Horizon will benefit directly from the Sagard footprint already established in North America, accelerating client growth in the region, on top of opening offices in Singapore and Dubai to offer bespoke services on the ground. This demonstrates Horizon’s strategic approach to supporting local clients in global key markets and continuing to develop its managed services offering.
Sylvain Thieullent, CEO of Horizon, commented: “Funding from Sagard NewGen represents the next step in our growth strategy to drive innovation in the trading technology industry. The investment ensures we are well placed to continue to support the trading of digital asset classes on top of what we currently offer across our cross-asset and algo platform. We look forward to building on our existing client base, as well as expanding our reach geographically.”
Bérangère Barbe and Agnès Huyghues Despointes, Partners at Sagard NewGen, added: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Sylvain Thieullent to support Horizon Software and its remarkable management team in this new development phase. Under the leadership of its CEO, the company has successfully launched its Managed & Hosted service offering and has leveraged its expertise in algorithmic trading to conquer new international markets and develop its Agency Trading business. We are convinced of Horizon Software’s strong potential. The team will be able to leverage the resources of the Sagard network to accelerate the company’s growth.”
About Horizon Software
Horizon, a global leading vendor in Market Making and Algo Trading Technology, has been empowering capital market players for over two decades by building powerful algorithmic technology into its electronic trading platform and offering trading opportunities through direct connectivity to more than 80 exchanges worldwide. Horizon enables clients to quickly create, test and implement automated trading strategies in real-time, in line with its ‘Trade Your Way’ philosophy. Its platform can be easily integrated with rich APIs and allows proprietary strategies to be built while keeping traders’ code confidential. More information: www.hsoftware.com
About Sagard NewGen
Sagard NewGen supports the development of leaders in the Technology and Healthcare sectors. They finance the growth strategy of profitable European companies with revenues of up to €150 million through both majority and minority equity investments. The companies they invest in share their commitment to innovation and sustainability.
Sagard NewGen is a member of the international Sagard platform with $14 billion of Asset Under Management, combining capital, culture and network to grow businesses and drive strategic and financial success. As such, Sagard NewGen provides management teams with bespoke support and a high value-added ecosystem with international reach through Sagard’s presence in Paris, London, Montreal, Toronto, New York, San Francisco and Singapore.
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