NASDAQ Private Market

SecondMarket, Inc.
Private
Industry Finance and Marketplaces
Founded 2004 (as Restricted Stock Partners, Inc.)
Founder Barry E. Silbert
Headquarters New York City, USA
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Barry E. Silbert (Founder, Chairman & CEO)
Products Marketplace Services
Financial Data
Number of employees
 100+ (2009)
Website www.SecondMarket.com

NASDAQ Private Market acquired SecondMarket October 22, 2015.

SecondMarket (formerly Restricted Stock Partners) is an American SaaS company that provides transaction software to private companies and investment funds looking to do tender offers or share buybacks. The company also has a trading business arm for buying and selling illiquid assets, including auction‐rate securities, bankruptcy claims, limited partnership interests, private company stock, restricted securities in public companies, structured products, and whole loans.

History

SecondMarket was founded in 2004 by Barry Silbert to provide liquidity for restricted securities in public companies. Beginning in early 2008, SecondMarket expanded into other asset classes—first auction‐rate securities, then bankruptcy claims, limited partnership interests, structured products (MBS, CDO, ABS),[1] whole loans, private company stock, government IOUs and bitcoins.[2][3]

In 2007, the company raised an undisclosed amount of Series A financing from venture capital firm Pequot Ventures.[4] In February 2010, the company raised US$15 million in Series B funding to aid its expansion into Asia.[5] In November 2011, the company announced that they had closed a US$15 million Series C round, led by The Social+Capital Partnership.[6] The last round of investment valued SecondMarket at US$200 million, up from a valuation of about US$150 million set in the previous round in February 2010.[7]

The World Economic Forum listed the company as a Technology Pioneer for 2011.[8]

The firm's private-company transactions totaled $100 million in 2009, and $400 million in 2010. SecondMarket takes fees from 3 to 5 percent on each trade (split evenly between buyer and seller). In March 2011, it had 53,000 registered participants, up from 35,000 in 2010, 6,500 in 2009 and 2,500 in 2008.[9]

Markets Trading on SecondMarket

Restricted Securities in Public Companies

Restricted securities, SecondMarket's initial market, utilizes privately negotiated transactions to provide access to liquidity in the trillion dollar restricted securities market.[10][11]

Bankruptcy Claims Market

SecondMarket entered into the bankruptcy claims market in June 2008 by acquiring Trade Receivable Exchange, Inc. (T-REX) of Denver, at the time the largest online auction platform serving the bankruptcy trade claims market.[12]

Limited Partnership Interests Market

In February 2009, SecondMarket opened its marketplace to limited partnership (LP) interests, which are ownership rights in investment entities such as private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, and fund of funds. Through this market, current limited partners are able to transfer future capital commitments to other investors.[13]

Structured Products

In April 2009, Secondmarket opened the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) and mortgage-backed security (MBS) markets.[14]

Whole Loans

Launched in April 2009,[14] SecondMarket's whole loans market facilitates transactions in residential, commercial and specialty loan types. SecondMarket transacts in both performing and non-performing individual loans as well as entire loan portfolios.

Private Company Stock Market

SecondMarket's market for stock in private companies opened in April 2009 and facilitates transactions in both debt and equity securities in private companies.[15] Through SecondMarket, private companies can opt into an organized, controlled private environment that offers early investors and employee shareholders exit opportunity prior to an IPO or M&A event.[16]

Government IOUs

SecondMarket’s government warrant market facilitates transactions in registered warrants (IOUs) issued by state governments. When the state of California issued warrants to its creditors in mid-2009, SecondMarket opened up a market place to facilitate the trading of government IOUs.[17]

Bitcoin

The Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) is a private, open-ended trust that derives its value solely from the price of bitcoin. SecondMarket acts as the custodian and the trust is audited by Ernst & Young.[2][3] The trust is managed through a subsidiary of SecondMarket.[18]

SecondMarket announced in February 2014 that it planned to open a regulated, US-based bitcoin exchange.[18] It was planning to spin off a separate company for all its Bitcoin activities.[18]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ "SecondMarket,Inc.". BusinessWeek. 2009-12-10. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  2. 1 2 "SecondMarket Starts First U.S. Trust for Bitcoin Virtual Money". Bloomberg. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  3. 1 2 "SecondMarket Establishes New Bitcoin Trust for Accredited Investors". Entrepreneur. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Restricted Stock Partners Secures Funding From Pequot Ventures. September 19, 2007
  5. ↑ "SecondMarket Eyes Asia Expansion". CNBC. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  6. ↑ Epsom, Rip (2011-11-01). "Former Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya Invests $15 Million In SecondMarket, Joins Board". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  7. ↑ Ante, Spencer (2011-11-02). "SecondMarket Gets Its Own Funding". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  8. ↑ Thirty-One Visionary Companies Selected as Technology Pioneers 2011
  9. ↑ Bloomberg Markets, June 2011, pp. 33-44.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Jenny (2005-05-28). "Market Place; Seeking Unlimited Success From Providing a Market for Restricted Stock". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  11. ↑ Zuill, Lilla (2007-09-19). "Restricted, Distressed Securities Get E-marketplace". Reuters. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  12. ↑ [(Press Release) http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/restricted-stock-partners-acquires-t-rex-adds-bankruptcy-claims-to-online-trading-platform-57422392.html "Restricted Stock Partners Acquires T-REX"] Check |url= value (help).
  13. ↑ "Private equity investors flock to sale platform". Financial Times. 2009-02-24. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  14. 1 2 Demos, Telis (2009-04-14). "Trading the untradable pays off". CNN Money. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  15. ↑ "With Private Trades, Venture Capital Seeks a New Way Out". New York Times. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  16. ↑ "How Can Twitter And Facebook Employees Cash Out Now". Washington Post. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  17. ↑ "California IOUs set for trade". dBusinessNews. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  18. 1 2 3 "SecondMarket plans regulated bitcoin exchange". Reuters. 25 February 2014.

External links

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