The Mindbody IPO will be listed under the symbol MB, but has not selected an exchange yet. Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and UBS Investment Bank are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.

This update is courtesy of the Pacific Coast Business Times’ article by Elijah Brumback, “Mindbody targets global expansion with IPO“. An excerpt of the article is below.

Mindbody, best known for its business management software for health and wellness companies, is going public with a target of raising $100 million.

In a deal that’s been heralded as the first non-bank stock offering in decades for a company based in San Luis Obispo, Mindbody filed its offering statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11.

An IPO has long been expected for the growing company, which recently debuted its new headquarters complex located on Tank Farm Road near the SLO airport. The company counts 42,000 local business subscribers in 124 countries, with revenues of $70 million in 2014.

Company CEO Rick Stollmeyer, who owns just over 11.2 percent of the firm, told the Business Times going public will help push the software firm’s global expansion.

“Our mission is to help wellness-based businesses be more successful,” he said. “This [IPO] enables us to do even more of that.”

After years of development, Mindbody rolled out a major corporate wellness platform last year and raised almost $100 million in venture capital to become San Luis Obispo County’s 11th-largest employer and fourth-largest private-sector job creator with about 900 employees on the Central Coast. The company’s headcount is expected to grow to roughly 1,100 in the next several years.

To continue reading about Mindbody’s IPO filing, click here.

The post Mindbody IPO Continues In Recent Fitness Trend appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

Have you spent a good deal of time gazing upon your coworkers and thinking, “Working alongside each other is nice. Watching them scarf down Seamless has its perks. Burning the midnight oil to get these pitchbooks done is more fun than you’d think. But what I’d really like to do is attend a sex party with these people. But not just any old sex party put together in a slapdash manner and attended by people who give bondage gear a bad name. I’m talking a highly organized sex party produced by pros who know what they’re doing. Maybe someone with a British accent, who only has a couple degrees of separation from the Queen of England, and can lend an air of class to the event and know how to make a decent cup of Earl Grey. Someone whose roster of clients include the crème de la crème of f*cking. Someone who is not just a sex party planner but a serious businesswoman who did 7-figures in revenue last year by providing “A-list actors, British aristocrats, Formula One owners, moneyed married couples” and banking heirs with a smorgasbord of sexual delicacies”? Then today’s your lucky day.

Leggy models in Christian Louboutin heels and Wolford stockings glide from room to candlelit room. A dapper man in a custom suit eyes them while sipping Champagne by the mansion’s fireplace. A DJ plays in a corner. Oysters are slurped at the bar. And then, in a matter of minutes, pants are off, bras are unhooked and a tangled web of nude revelers go at it on a bed plopped smack in the middle of the 12,000-square-foot home. It’s just another night at Killing Kittens — the roving members-only sex club that professes to be “the world’s network for the sexual elite.” On Saturday night, the kinky London-based club makes its New York debut. For $100 per woman and $250 per couple, the adventurous can spend hours sleeping with strangers in a swanky Flatiron loft rented for the evening. Cocktail attire and masks are required (though, needless to say, both will get shed rather quickly)…

“When [my ex-boyfriend and I] hosted a party at our house [in London], we had a bed and there were these two gorgeous silver foxes and this black girl whose legs went to Tokyo, and she was just demanding everything from them . . . it’s complete carnage,” she says. “It’s like a buffet.” […As of Tuesday, Sayle says 60 people have signed up for the NYC event, including a group of British female bankers who work at UBS’s Midtown office and a bevy of models. “They all have the same mentality,” a raspy-voiced Sayle says of her members.” They’re all overachievers.

For the entire article from DealBreaker, click here.

The post UBS Employees Become Members Of NYC “Sexual Elite” Networking Club appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

Brokerdealers around the world were shocked after the Swiss National Bank unexpectedly announced on Thursday that they would be scrapping a three-year-old cap on the franc. As a result, it sent the currency soaring against the euro while stocks plunged out of fear. Although the market has seemed to bounce back caution should still be taken.

Don’t be too quick to look past the turmoil that swept global financial markets after Switzerland’s central bank unexpectedly scrapped a cap on the value of its currency versus the euro.

While European and U.S. equities largely regained their footing after a panicky round of selling in the wake of the decision, dangers may still lurk in some corners of the market. Here are the potential shock waves to look out for:

Needless to say, the Swiss franc, which had long been held down by the Swiss National Bank’s controversial cap, exploded to the upside. The euro EURCHF, +0.66%  is down 15% and the U.S. dollar USDCHF, +1.69%  remains down nearly 14% versus the so-called Swissie after having plunged even further in the immediate aftermath of the move.

Since the Swiss National Bank had given no indication it was set to move — indeed, it had previously said it would defend the euro/Swiss franc currency floor with the “utmost determination” — investors were holding large dollar/Swiss franc and euro/Swiss franc long positions, noted George Saravelos, currency strategist at Deutsche Bank, in a note.

As a result, the moves Thursday likely resulted in some big losses on investor portfolios holding those positions, he said.

“This effectively serves as a large VaR [value-at-risk] shock to the market, at a time when investors were already sensitive to poor [profit-and-loss] performance for the year,” Saravelos wrote.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs on Thursday closed what had previously been one of its top trade recommendations for 2015: shorting the Swiss franc versus the Swedish krona SEKCHF, +1.26% after the franc jumped as much as 14% on the day versus its Swedish counterpart..

Douglas Borthwick, managing director at Chapdelaine Foreign Exchange, said forex participants are bracing for aftershocks.

“We expect that few risk-management algorithms in G-20 currencies were prepared for greater than 20% moves in a currency pair, for this reason the chance of a binary outcome is significant,” he said, in a note. “Either participants gained or lost considerable amounts.”

Volatility

The Swiss National Bank’s move serves to underline the theme that volatility is back and here to stay.

For U.S. companies, trade exposure to Switzerland is small. And that means the direct impact is likely to be more of a ripple than a wave, said Wouter Sturkenboom, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments in London.

But the turmoil that followed the decision shows that markets are vulnerable to shifts by central banks which have largely been on hold since implementing a range of extraordinary measures in the aftermath of the financial crisis, he said.

“It is adding to this general disquiet in markets that things are volatile and things are changing and central banks are changing,” Sturkenboom said in a phone interview.

“I think that’s maybe the underlying cause [for the volatility in U.S. stocks], especially when you’ve had such a good run; valuations in the U.S. are stretched and expensive,” he said.

Emerging markets

Investors will also likely keep an eye on European banks exposed to central and Eastern Europe. Before 2008, households in several countries in the region, particularly Hungary and Poland, took out mortgages denominated in Swiss francs, attracted by low rates, noted William Jackson, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.

Those households got a shock in 2008-09 and in 2011 when the franc rose, boosting debt servicing costs. Another 15% jump in the franc against most Central and Eastern European currencies Thursday morning could lead to further worries, Jackson said, though he argued that the situation appears much more manageable than in the past.

In Hungary, a law allows households to convert foreign-currency mortgages into forint-denominated mortgages at the exchange rate that prevailed in 2014, Jackson notes, while in Poland, the Swiss franc lending was restricted to higher quality borrowers.

The post The Swiss National Bank Shocks Brokerdealers appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

BrokerDealer.com blog update courtesy of extracts from ThisDayLive.com

Often referred to as alternative trading system, electronic communication network has revolutionised trading on stock exchanges around the world. Despite initial apathy, dealing member firms of the Nigerian Stock Exchange are now embracing remote trading in a bid to woo retail investors writes, Eromosele Abiodun.

Following the introduction of technology, stock markets around the world have grown in leaps and bounds. The Nigerian stock market is a special example of the extent institutions can go if the right steps are taken in the right direction.

The impact of technology on the Nigeria stock market has been phenomenal, indicating the extent institutions can go when the right tools are employed. Technology indeed has taken control of the guts of business and made it possible for tiny, agile companies and stockbroking firms to become contenders.

In a bid to take the local bourse to the next level, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had in 2005, introduced remote trading or Electronic Communications Networks (ECN), a system that enable brokers to trade in the comfort of their offices without having to come to its trading floor in Marina.

As you would expect, most stockbroking firms for some reasons (mainly financial reasons) failed to embrace the system, preferring rather to come to the NSE trading floor in Lagos.

Irked by their lukewarm attitude to its effort, the NSE did issue a statement calling on stockbroking firms to embrace remote trading and enjoy the many benefits instead of coming physically to the trading floors on a daily basis.

The NSE’s Deputy General Manager/Acting Head, Market Operations and IT Directorate, Mr. Ogbonnanya Osita, had at that time disclosed that there were already 235 remote trading connections in Lagos besides those deployed in branches across the country.

According to him, the remote trading system enables stockbrokers to trade from their offices without having to come to the floor of the exchange in person, adding however, that stockbroking firms are connected based on request.

Osita had noted that the number of dealing member firms that are using the system is growing rapidly, explaining that most of those stockbrokers who are still coming physically to trade are doing so because of the need to keep relationships with their colleagues.

While the attitude of a few elicited the exchange’s call for change of behaviour, some stockbrokers described remote trading as one of the commendable innovations in recent times.

For instance, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, Mr. Akeem Oyewole, had told THISDAY that remote trading has helped the growth of the market greatly and has improved the performance of his company.

“We have 10 stockbrokers in our company and it is only one of them who goes to The Exchange’s trading floor to trade physically. The remaining nine trade remotely from our office. It is working fine, it has been a blessing to our operations,” he said.

Also, the Chief Executive Officer of APT Securities and Funds Limited, Mallam Kasimu Kurfi, had told THISDAY that his company was the first to start remote trading at the NSE.

“We have been using it since inception and we have never encountered any serious problem.”

The post Nigerian Stock Market offers Remote Trading appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

Moribund financial services exchange traded funds got some much-needed good news Wednesday when Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) announced the Federal Reserve granted it permission to raise its dividend to common stockholders for the first time in seven years.

BofA said it will pay a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share up from the paltry penny a share it had been paying since early 2009. Today’s news removes some of the embarrassment suffered by the bank in April when it said it would be forced to suspend its planned $4 billion share repurchase plan and its previously announced dividend increase due to a calculation error related to the company’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch during the financial crisis.

The BofA dividend news sent shares of the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF), the largest U.S. sector ETF, up 0.6% while the iShares U.S. Financials ETF (NYSEArca: IYF) added 0.55%. XLF and IYF have BofA weights of 5.76% and 4.41%, respectively.

BofA’s dividend news comes at a critical time for financial services. Entering Wednesday, IYF had tumbled 3.3% over the past month, highlighting the 2014 struggles of the financial services group, the second-largest sector weight in the S&P 500. Of the nine sector SPDR ETFs, only the Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLI) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLY) have been worse than XLF this year. [Industrial ETFs are Sagging]

Although BofA did not seek approval for a share repurchase program in its latest round of discussions with the Fed, the new dividend more than quadruples the stock’s dividend yield to 1.3% from 0.26%. Rivals Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) have an average dividend yield of 2.7%.

A higher dividend from BofA could stoke institutional buying of the stock and possibly stem the tide of outflows from some financial services ETFs. [Charts for Bank ETFs are Getting Nasty]

For the entire story from ETFTrends.com, please click on this link.

The post BofA Breathes Some Life Into Bank ETFs appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

Bankers, Broker-Dealers, venture and private equity investors, and the universe of fast-growth start-ups who keep an eye on the pulse of pre-IPO funding rounds were salivating on Friday after Uber, the car ride service, announced it raised $1.2bil from “institutional investors, mutual funds, private equity and venture capital,” with a second round of investors coming soon. The new round of financing values the company at a total $18.2 billion. The company’s pre-money valuation, not counting the latest round of funding, was $17 billion.

Investors hope the company, which allows users to summon a ride on their smartphones, can expand globally and diversify into logistics.
The investors in the round valued Uber “pre-money” at $17 billion, the blog post said. The $1.2 billion infusion took the startup’s valuation to $18.2 billion.

Fidelity Investments put in about $425 million, Wellington Management added $209 million and BlackRock Inc contributed $175 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Venture firms Summit Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures and Menlo Ventures also participated in the round, a person familiar with the matter said. Kleiner’s investment came from its Digital Growth Fund, run by former stock analyst Mary Meeker, known for her bullish recommendations during the first dot-com boom. Her fund has had recent hits, including traffic app Waze, acquired last year for $1.1 billion by Google.

“Uber is one of the most rapidly growing companies ever, and we believe there are opportunities for continued tremendous growth,” Joan Miller, a spokeswoman for Summit Partners, an investor in the funding round, said by telephone.Uber, which did not give details about its latest investors, operates in 128 cities across 37 countries.

Kalanick said he expected to close a second round of funding from strategic investors of about $200 million

The post Uber Snags $1.2Bil in Funding at $17Bil Valuation: Deal Investors Drive Record Raise for Car-Ride Service appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

Africa investor, the trading platform from Marco Polo World  seamlessly connects African Brokers and Exchanges with global buy side originators, broker dealers and exchange points. It represents the most formidable order dissemination and execution network for Africa available in the market today.

If you’re considering trading into and out of Africa and emerging markets, talking with the Africa investor Marco Polo Network should be your first step. We offer the simplicity of a single connection to African and emerging markets around the globe.

For firms that originate trades into Africa and local brokers that execute them, The Africa investor Marco Polo is the electronic, FIX-enabled trading network that brings transactions into compliance with regional rules and regulations, allowing for seamless cross-border transactions.

These capabilities are multi-directional. Traders that are based in Africa use the same platform to execute trades outside of their own borders, without worrying about different versions of FIX or trading rules and regulations in other countries.

As a network built by capital markets professionals for capital markets professionals, we provide instant infrastructure, reliable transaction messaging, and comprehensive 24/6 client support in all markets. Our goal is to support African exchanges and free traders to focus on what they do best.

The post Africa Broker-Dealers: Growing Flowers and Seed Investors appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.

LONDON—For private-equity giant KKR +0.30% & Co., a debut investment in Africa smells of sweetheart roses. {And for others seeking investment capital for Africa-based opportunities, BrokerDealer.com provides a global resources of brokers, dealers and private investors seeking new deal opportunities}

KKR is investing about $200 million in Ethiopian flower company Afriflora; above, an Afriflora worker. Afriflora

Afriflora is an Ethiopian company that grows about 730 million of the flowers a year for export to Europe, making it a significant player in the east African country’s blossoming cut flower export industry. KKR is investing about $200 million from its $6.2 billion European fund to buy a stake in the company, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

The deal opens a new chapter for KKR, the New York-based firm best-known for its hostile $25 billion leveraged takeover of RJR Nabisco RAI +1.47% in 1988, the subject of the book “Barbarians at the Gate.”It also comes as private-equity firms, seeking opportunities outside the crowded markets of North America and Europe, show tentative interest in Africa. KKR rival, Washington-based Carlyle Group CG -0.34% LP, raised a $698 million African fund earlier this year and has invested in a food distributor and a logistics company, for instance.

Private-equity investment in sub-Saharan Africa increased 43% to $1.6 billion in 2013 from the previous year, according to the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. Investors are attracted by fast economic growth in some countries on the continent. The Ethiopian economy grew by an average 10.6% a year between 2004 and 2012, according to the World Bank.

“We see Africa as a long-term attractive investment destination,” said Kayode Akinola, head of KKR’s African operations. “The potential is astounding. But the work to get there is going to be considerable.”

For the full story from the Wall Street Journal, click here

The post Bankers Smell Opportunity in Africa Flower Deal; Private Equity Firm KKR Brings Home the Roses appeared first on BrokerDealer Blog.