markets.com which has been pretty aggressive in terms of broker acquisitions (Finexo and ForexYard to name a few) is now making a step into the technology arena by acquiring certain key assets and employees of Strategy Runner. Strategy Runner itself was acquired by MF Global for $3.75million just few weeks before the collapse.
It seems markets.com is beginning to assemble a major development team perhaps in order to develop its own platform or additional products which it is interested to keep proprietary. The deal with Strategy Runner makes sense as in terms of price markets.com paid just a fraction of what MF paid only couple of months ago and in terms of technological know-how, especially in platform development and algo trading, there’s no doubt that it’s a great deal. Strategy Runner people who only few months ago celebrated the sale (albeit it wasn’t really a successful exit) were now saved again although compensation packages will certainly be much less than MF’s.
Strategy Runner is a combination of an advanced charting package and a strategy exchange where a retail trader can pick from hundreds of trading strategies – mainly for the futures industry. It’s a very interesting deal for MF, especially given the announced price, the question is how will dozens of Strategy Runner clients react to these news. Having met the Strategy Runner team sometime ago I can only say that MF has invested here not only in technology but also in great people.
