UK Robinhood rival Freetrade snapped up by trading firm at 29% valuation discount
U.K. Robinhood rival Freetrade has been acquired by IG Group for £160 million — a 29% discount to its last valuation.
Freetrade, a British rival to popular stock trading app Robinhood, said Thursday that it's been acquired by online investing platform IG Group.
The deal values Freetrade at £160 million ($195 million) — a 29% discount to its last valuation. The startup said that it would continue to operate as a commercially standalone entity under its own brand.
Founded in 2016, Freetrade garnered popularity among mainly younger, more inexperienced traders in the U.K. with its zero-commission trading platform.
The app initially began by offering equities but later expanded to roll out trading in exchange-traded funds, savings products and government bonds.
In pandemic times, Freetrade was riding high on a retail trader frenzy. The app benefited heavily from GameStop "short squeeze" in early 2021, when traders on a Reddit forum for retail investors piled into the stock and caused it to rally in price.
Short-selling refers to the practice of an investor borrowing an asset and then selling it on the open market with the expectation of repurchasing it for less money in future for a profit.