Singapore-headquartered fintech firm Alta Group — formerly known as Fundnel — has acquired private digital securities exchange Hg Exchange (HGX).
The acquisition allows Alta to support the tokenisation and digital custody of alternative assets, creating an end-to-end solution that makes it cheaper and faster to trade private securities, funds as well as asset-backed securities such as real estate and luxury assets.
The deal will see HGX become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alta. Alta will also list Phillip Securities, Nomura Holdings, Integra Partners and Prime Partners as shareholders.
Following the acquisition, HGX will be renamed Alta Exchange and will continue to be led by CEO Willie Chang and the rest of the existing team, which will be merging and augmenting Alta’s team.
Alta CEO and cofounder Kelvin Lee says the acquisition marks a new chapter in its journey to revolutionise private markets with blockchain-powered digital exchange, bringing enhanced access and liquidity to alternative investments for all investors.
“Our goal is to connect promising new opportunities with capital. Today, by standardising processes around our tokenised listings, we make investing in alternative cost-effective and transparent for investors."
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Alta has facilitated more than 600 transactions for opportunities like SpaceX, Grab, Gojek, rare whiskeys and other alternative assets. It has generated over US$600 million in transactions and created access to over US$22 billion worth of mandated deals for its global investor community.
