Liquidnet CEO says may go public in 2008

By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Liquidnet, a rapidly growing electronic stock-trading marketplace, is considering an initial public offering as early as next year, its chief executive, Seth Merrin, said on Monday.

"We are exploring the idea of potentially listing in 2008. No guarantees. For sure not in 2007, but a potential for 2008," Merrin told the Reuters Exchanges and Trading Summit in New York.

Liquidnet, founded by Merrin in 1999, manages electronic networks that let institutional investors anonymously trade large blocks of stock without traditional brokers and exchanges. The company has become a Top 10 broker in the United States and Europe, taking advantage of the accelerating shift from human trading to faster, less costly electronic systems.

Liquidnet said that by the end of 2006 it handled, on average, the trading of 53.6 million shares a day. It is a Top 10 broker on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange.

By comparison, Investment Technology Group Inc. (ITG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is the biggest stock-crossing network with average first-quarter trading of 61.1 million shares a day on its POSIT system.

Over the next 12 months to 18 months, he said, Liquidnet will focus on adding new products and expanding into new regions to broaden its sources of revenue.

Liquidnet recently acquired Miletus Trading, a broker-dealer offering program trading for investment managers and hedge funds.

The company also is expanding into the Asia-Pacific region, where developing stock markets and rapidly growing economies are creating new opportunities, Merrin said.  Continued...