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Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has announced the acquisition of the American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic platform facilitating direct lending and borrowing between American banks and financial institutions.
The NYSE-listed global technology and data provider has purchased 100% of AFX from private markets asset manager 7RIDGE, although financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ICE stated that the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on its 2025 financial results or affect its deleveraging or capital return plans.
AFX, which was launched in 2015, operates as a self-regulated exchange with over 240 bank and non-bank members across the United States. The platform serves as the administrator for the American Interbank Offered Rate (AMERIBOR), a credit-sensitive benchmark rate set daily based on unsecured interbank loans executed on the AFX platform through a network exceeding 1,000 American financial institutions.
"Complementing our leading global index business and our best-in-class mortgage technology network, AFX is a natural fit to ICE," said Christopher Edmonds, President of ICE Fixed Income and Data Services. "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."
The acquisition aligns with ICE's established presence in the U.S. mortgage sector, where it has built a unified network for managing the mortgage lifecycle from consumer acquisition through to secondary capital markets. This infrastructure was designed to reduce mortgage costs for both lenders and borrowers by digitising workflow processes.
Carsten Kengeter, CEO at 7RIDGE, commented on the transaction: "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."
ICE already operates substantial interest rate futures and options markets and maintains a significant presence in the index space, offering over 5,000 global equity, fixed income, commodity and foreign exchange indices. As of September 2024, ICE indices accounted for approximately $670 billion in assets under management across passively managed products and approximately $2 trillion in AUM across both active and passive strategies.
AMERIBOR has gained importance as an alternative interest rate benchmark that specifically reflects the actual unsecured borrowing costs of American banks. According to AFX, the institutions using its platform collectively represent 25% of the U.S. banking sector's total assets.
The acquisition continues ICE's strategy of expanding its market infrastructure portfolio through strategic acquisitions in key financial segments, strengthening its position as a provider of critical market infrastructure and data services across global financial markets.
