Bankman-Fried's FTX says no talks to acquire Robinhood

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Item 1 of 2 The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
[1/2]The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
June 27 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto exchange said it is not in talks to acquire Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O), opens new tab, after a report, opens new tab on Monday claimed the exchange was exploring such a deal.
Bloomberg News reported on Monday FTX was discussing internally how to buy the app-based brokerage and that Robinhood had not received a formal takeover approach, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
"There are no active M&A conversations with Robinhood," Bankman-Fried said in an emailed statement."We are excited about Robinhood's business prospects and potential ways we could partner with them."
Robinhood declined to comment. The retail-trading platform's shares were down 5% in extended trading after jumping over 14% on the report.
Last month, the founder and chief executive of FTX revealed a 7.6% stake in Robinhood but said he did not have any intention of taking control of the retail-trading platform.
Robinhood's dual-class shares give its founders control of 64% of the voting shares outstanding, making it virtually impossible for takeovers without their support. read more
The popular trading platform has come under pressure this year as trading volumes ease from 2021's frenetic pace - when retail investors used it to pump money into shares of so-called meme stocks such as GameStop (GME.N), opens new tab and AMC Entertainment (AMC.N), opens new tab.
That slowdown, along with a sell-off in high-growth technology stocks, has driven a near 50% slump in Robinhood shares this year. The company had a market valuation of nearly $7 billion as of Friday's closing price.
FTX's U.S. arm announced in May it would launch a stock trading platform by the end of the summer. Last week, it acquired partner Embedded Financial Technologies for an undisclosed amount, which would add custody, execution and clearing services to its equity trading platform.
FTX and its billionaire founder Bankman-Fried have rescued other players during the crypto market's recent crash. It provided crypto lender BlockFi with a $250 million revolving credit facility to help the firm avoid a liquidity crunch.

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Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru, John McCrank and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Aditya Soni and Richard Chang

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Manya Saini reports on prominent publicly listed U.S. financial firms including Wall Street’s biggest banks, card companies, asset managers and fintechs. Also covers late-stage venture capital funding, initial public offerings on U.S. exchanges alongside news and regulatory developments in the cryptocurrency industry. Her work usually appears in the finance, markets, business and future of money sections of the website.

Thomson Reuters

Krystal reports on venture capital and startups for Reuters. She covers Silicon Valley and beyond through the lens of money and characters, with a focus on growth-stage startups, tech investments and AI. She has previously covered M&A for Reuters, breaking stories on Trump's SPAC and Elon Musk's Twitter financing. Previously, she reported on Amazon for Yahoo Finance, and her investigation of the company's retail practice was cited by lawmakers in Congress. Krystal started a career in journalism by writing about tech and politics in China. She has a master's degree from New York University, and enjoys a scoop of Matcha ice cream as much as getting a scoop at work.

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