smartTrade to Acquire kACE
smartTrade Technologies SAS (smartTrade), a global leader in multi-asset electronic trading and payments solutions, today announced the strategic acquisition of kACE Financial (“kACE”) — previously operating under the Fenics name — a leading financial technology provider for FX and interest rate derivatives pricing, analytics, and workflow solutions.
This acquisition strengthens smartTrade’s client offering by expanding its comprehensive trading and payments capabilities to address the industry’s demand for unified multi-asset solutions. The combined platform delivers deep multi-asset functionality across Foreign Exchange (including Spot, Forwards, Swaps, NDFs, and Options), Fixed Income, Rates, Cryptocurrencies, Money Markets, Precious Metals, and sophisticated Structured Products.
Strategic Rationale: A Unified Platform for Enhanced Client Value
This strategic acquisition addresses a critical market need: the demand for fully integrated solutions spanning the full spectrum of multi-asset trading and payments. By combining smartTrade’s ultra-low-latency infrastructure and comprehensive smart trading technology with kACE’s deep expertise in complex FX derivatives, the integrated solution empowers financial institutions to better monetise trading flows, reduce risk, and grow market share through a seamless end-to-end workflow — from pre-trade analytics to post-trade processing.
David Vincent, CEO & Co-Founder at smartTrade, said: “This is a transformational moment for our joint clients. kACE brings a world-class team and sophisticated FX derivatives technology that is highly complementary to our existing multi-asset trading and payments offering. By integrating kACE’s deep derivatives expertise and cutting-edge analytics, we can now deliver even greater value to clients through a truly end-to-end solution that offers a clear competitive advantage.”
Accelerated Innovation and a Cloud-Native Future
The combined organisation will accelerate its innovation roadmap with a strong focus on cloud transformation. By integrating kACE’s best-in-class pricing, workflow, and analytical tools, smartTrade will enhance its trading and payments platform with deeper insights, AI-driven analytics, and advanced machine learning capabilities across all asset classes. The integrated solution will be delivered via a SaaS model, enabling faster deployment, greater scalability, and reduced total cost of ownership for clients.
Stephen Helm, Managing Director & Global Head of Sales at kACE, said: “Joining smartTrade marks an exciting new chapter for kACE. Together, we will deliver the unified solution that the market has been demanding — seamlessly integrating our sophisticated derivatives capabilities with smartTrade’s comprehensive multi-asset trading and payments technology. This acquisition allows us to accelerate innovation and transition our solutions to a modern SaaS offering, leveraging smartTrade’s global infrastructure and scale. Our clients will gain access to a truly integrated platform backed by an expanded global team.”
TA Associates, a leading global private equity firm focused on scaling growth in profitable companies, will remain the majority investor in the combined group.
About smartTrade Group
smartTrade Technologies is a global leader in multi-asset electronic trading and payments solutions. Our secure, reliable, and scalable platforms enable banks, brokers, buy-side institutions, and corporates to achieve significant business growth through secure, cost-efficient, and technologically advanced SaaS solutions. Headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, smartTrade has a global presence with offices in major financial centres.
About kACE Financial
kACE Financial is a specialised financial technology firm renowned for its sophisticated, real-time pricing and advanced analytics platforms, with deep domain expertise in complex Foreign Exchange (FX) derivatives. kACE serves a dedicated client base of financial institutions by providing solutions critical for trading, risk management, and regulatory compliance.