FXCM to Acquire Lucid Markets

FXCM Inc.

today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 50% controlling interest in Lucid Markets Trading Ltd. and Lucid Markets LLP for approximately $176 million, net of Lucid cash. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks and is subject to customary closing conditions. Lucid Markets is a leading non-bank electronic market making and trading firm in the institutional foreign exchange market. In the twelve months ending December 31, 2011 under UK GAAP, Lucid had revenues of $148.9 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $113.4 million. Lucid traded $13.4 trillion of foreign exchange in 2011. The acquisition is intended to bolster FXCM's institutional business and Lucid will not be a liquidity provider to FXCM's retail agency FX offering. “FXCM has been transforming its institutional foreign exchange business in the past year,” said Drew Niv, Chief Executive Officer of FXCM. “Since the fourth quarter of last year we have been migrating customers to our own in-house institutional platform which we believe has made us more competitive in the institutional space and resulted in some significant increases in our institutional volume.”