19-11-2007 IG Group buys HedgeStreet for $6.0m in cash and shares

The HedgeStreet Exchange, which listed binary option contracts on forex and commodities before suspending operations at the end of September, has total liabilities of $1m and operating costs of $325,000 per month.

Commenting on the acquisition Tim Howkins, CEO of IG, said: "For some time we have been interested in entering the US market, but regulatory constraints limit our ability to offer much of our existing product range. The acquisition of HedgeStreet marks an important step in our ongoing process of researching and developing as broad a product range as possible that can be offered to US retail clients.

IG Group said it plans to re-launch the exchange in early 2008.