You probably remember the debacle around the BATS initial public offering (IPO). This is supposed to be the third largest equities exchange, but its IPO cancellation came with a very embarrassing trading halt for Apple because of a single trade down more than 9% under the market, causing a trading halt. BATS was even one of our Top 17 IPOs to Watch for 2012, but this “watch” was followed by a cancelled IPO.

Now it turns out that BATS has decided to take on new investing partners. Spectrum Equity and TA Associates have acquired a stake in BATS Global Markets through the acquisition of all shares held by the Lehman Estate. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The press release said:

Spectrum Equity, a leading growth equity firm focused on the information economy, and TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, today announced that they have each acquired a minority stake in BATS Global Markets, Inc. (“BATS”), a leading operator of securities markets in the U.S. and Europe, from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Dow Jones ran a headline indicating that the BATS IPO is not currently in the exchange’s plans, neither in the short-term nor in the long-term. We will have to see how that plays out.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.