Technology and data solutions provider Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) acquired American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic platform for direct lending and borrowing among American banks and financial institutions, from 7RIDGE.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
7RIDGE is a private markets asset manager focused on investing in transformative technologies within financial services to drive the global economy.
The transaction is not expected to significantly impact ICE’s financial results for 2025 or its ongoing plans for deleveraging and capital returns.
Launched in 2015, AFX is a self-regulated exchange with more than 240 bank and non-bank members across the US.
It operates the American Interbank Offered Rate (AMERIBOR), a credit-sensitive benchmark interest rate based on unsecured interbank loans executed on the AFX platform.
AMERIBOR is set daily by a network of over 1,000 American banks and financial institutions, reflecting actual unsecured borrowing costs within the market.
AFX provides a range of products to enhance transparency as well as efficiency in the interbank loans marketplace.
7RIDGE CEO Carsten Kengeter said: “AFX becoming part of ICE marks an extraordinary opportunity for AFX and we are confident that ICE’s leadership will amplify AFX’s success and its purpose to serve regional and local American banks by creating a transparent, robust and efficient interbank lending ecosystem.”
Through the acquisition, ICE aims to complement its existing efforts to build a unified network of mortgage assets for managing the US mortgage lifecycle.
The network spans from consumer acquisition through to secondary capital markets, aiming to reduce mortgage costs for both lenders and borrowers through the digitisation of the mortgage workflow.
ICE operates deeply liquid interest rate futures and options markets and provides more than 5,000 global indices across equities, fixed income, commodities, and foreign exchange.
These indices serve as vital tools for benchmarking and performance measurement by investors.
As of September 2024, ICE managed approximately $670bn in assets under management (AUM) across passively managed products and around $2 trillion in AUM across both active and passive strategies.
ICE fixed income and data services president Christopher Edmonds said: “Complementing our leading global index business and our best-in-class mortgage technology network, AFX is a natural fit to ICE.
“AFX’s focus on regional, midsize, community and minority-owned banks covers many of the same customers ICE serves through our mortgage technology network. We look forward to continuing to serve this important market, delivering innovation and new product development made possible through the addition of AFX to our portfolio.”
