Freetrade has been acquired by IG Group, valuing the company at £160 million, a significant discount from its previous valuation.
London: So, Freetrade just got picked up by IG Group, and it’s a pretty big deal. They’re valued at £160 million now, which is a 29% drop from what they were worth before. But don’t worry, they’ll still run under their own name.
Freetrade started back in 2016 and quickly became popular, especially with younger folks who wanted to trade without paying commissions. They kicked things off with stocks and then added ETFs, savings products, and even government bonds.
During the pandemic, Freetrade really took off. Remember the GameStop frenzy? That was a huge boost for them when retail traders went wild on Reddit. It was a wild ride!
But then, things got tough in 2022 and 2023. The market changed, and Freetrade’s value dropped from £650 million to just £225 million after a crowdfunding round. Ouch!
Now, with IG Group stepping in, it looks like the wealth tech scene is starting to consolidate. Viktor Nebehaj, Freetrade’s CEO, is excited about this deal, calling it a game-changer. He believes it’ll help them grow and roll out new features faster.
This acquisition follows another big one where Hargreaves Lansdown was bought for £5.4 billion. Freetrade’s deal still needs some approvals, but they expect it to wrap up later this year.
