Deutsche Börse

Deutsche Börse AG

Company type	Stock corporation
Industry	Stock exchanges
Founded	1992
Key people	Executive Board Stephan Leithner, Chairman Christoph Böhm Thomas Book Stephanie Eckermann Heike Eckert Gregor Pottmeyer Supervisory Board Martin Jetter, Chair
Revenue	€5.829 billion (2024)
Number of employees	15,495 (2024)
Website	deutsche-boerse.com

The Deutsche Börse AG is a German stock corporation headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Its core business is the development and operation of trading platforms, participant networks, and settlement systems for exchanges. It also operates the publicly regulated Frankfurt Stock Exchange, publishes the DAX index family and many other equity indices, and its own shares are listed in the DAX.

History

Deutsche Börse was formed in 1992 from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange AG, which had been founded in 1990. In 2000, the company moved from its traditional location in Frankfurt city center to the modern "New Exchange" office building in the Industriehof district of Frankfurt-Bockenheim, originally constructed by a Commerzbank real estate fund.

To save trade tax, after the ten-year minimum lease of the New Exchange expired, Deutsche Börse decided to relocate to neighboring Eschborn. In July 2008, about half of its Germany-based employees moved to temporary offices in Eschborn. In July 2010, these employees, along with remaining staff, relocated to the newly built "The Cube" in Eschborn. The data center and securities custody center remain in Frankfurt. Although most staff now work in Eschborn, Frankfurt remains the company’s official legal seat.

In Q4 2009, Deutsche Börse recorded its first net loss since going public, due to heavy write-downs following the acquisition of the International Securities Exchange. Approximately 450 positions (about 15 % of staff) were cut and some functions relocated to lower-cost Czech locations.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 Deutsche Börse increased revenue by 15 % and net income by 9 % over 2019, and headcount grew by 463 employees.

Corporate profile

As of end-2024, Deutsche Börse Group employed over 15,000 people across more than 60 locations representing over 125 nationalities. It operates Xetra and Börse Frankfurt in the cash market under Deutsche Börse Cash Market and, via Eurex, one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges. Since 2002, it has fully owned Clearstream, the international post-trade services provider for securities settlement, custody, and asset servicing.

Deutsche Börse IT handles technical services such as software development, hardware and network operations, and participant network management.

In the Market Data & Services segment, Deutsche Börse provides real-time market data, indices, and reference data. As of 31 December 2012, over 990,000 financial instruments were traded on Börse Frankfurt.

Market News International (MNI), a wholly owned subsidiary, acquired “Need to Know News” in November 2009, then sold MNI to Hale Global in July 2016.

In July 2015, Deutsche Börse acquired the FX platform 360T for €725 million and purchased SIX Group’s 49.9 % stake in STOXX AG for CHF 650 million.

In April 2019, together with General Atlantic, Deutsche Börse acquired US software provider Axioma and merged it with DAX and STOXX index divisions to form Qontigo.

Deutsche Börse is a founding member of the German Alliance for Economic Education, promoting financial literacy in schools and benefiting from improved financial education.

In February 2021, Deutsche Börse completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a governance and ESG data provider.

On 27 April 2023, Deutsche Börse announced a takeover offer for Denmark’s SimCorp A/S, a global provider of financial software, for nearly €4 billion. Regulators approved the transaction, and by 20 September 2023, 94 % of SimCorp shareholders had tendered. A squeeze-out completed in early November, and SimCorp was delisted. In November 2023, it was announced that SimCorp and Axioma would merge and Qontigo would be dissolved.

Shareholder structure

At end-2023, institutional investors held 91 % and foreign investors 80 % of shares. As of 7 June 2024, investors holding over 3 % voting rights include Amundi S.A., BlackRock, Inc., FIL Limited, Flossbach von Storch AG, and Massachusetts Financial Services Company.

Management

The Executive Board comprises seven members:

• Stephan Leithner, CEO
• Christoph Böhm, CIO/COO
• Thomas Book, Trading & Clearing
• Stephanie Eckermann, Post-Trading
• Heike Eckert, Governance, People & Culture; Labor Director
• Christian Kromann, Investment Management Solutions
• Gregor Pottmeyer, CFO

Paritarization of the Supervisory Board was introduced after the May 2018 Annual General Meeting.

Group structure

Major subsidiaries:

• Eurex Frankfurt AG (100 %)
  • Eurex Clearing AG (100 %)
• Eurex Global Derivatives AG (100 %)
• Deutsche Börse Systems, Inc. (100 %)
  • Quantitative Brokers LLC (73 %)
• KNEIP Communication S.A. (100 %)
• Clearstream Holding AG (100 %)
  • Clearstream Banking S.A. (100 %)
  • Clearstream Banking AG (100 %)
• Clearstream Fund Centre AG (100 %)
  • Clearstream Services S.A. (100 %)
  • Clearstream Fund Centre S.A. (100 %)
• Crypto Finance AG (91.94 %)
• 360 Treasury Systems AG (100 %)
  • 360TGTX Inc. (100 %)
• ISS STOXX GmbH (80.31 %)
  • ISS STOXX Index GmbH (100 %)
    • STOXX Ltd. (100 %)
  • ISS HoldCo Inc. (100 %)
    • Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (100 %)
• SimCorp A/S (100 %)
  • Axioma Inc. (100 %)
• European Energy Exchange AG (75 %)
  • European Commodity Clearing AG (100 %)
  • Nodal Exchange Holdings, LLC (100 %)
  • EPEX SPOT SE (51 %)

Corporate seat “The Cube”

To save trade tax, Deutsche Börse moved from Frankfurt to Eschborn in 2010. The Cube—a 87 m office tower with an 80 m entrance hall—was built by Groß & Partner to designs by KSP Jürgen Engel Architects for €200 million. It houses the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation’s rotating exhibitions. The Cube was the first German high-rise to earn LEED Platinum certification and was sold to Signa Holding for €230 million in October 2010, leased back until 2038. Swiss Life Asset Managers acquired it in December 2019.

Merger attempts

Since 2004, Deutsche Börse pursued several merger projects:

London Stock Exchange (2000, 2004)

In 2000 and again in late 2004, Deutsche Börse attempted to acquire the London Stock Exchange (LSE) but failed amid resistance from LSE owners and activism by The Children’s Investment Fund. Werner Seifert lost his CEO role following public disputes over the bids.

Euronext

In 2006, under CEO Reto Francioni, Deutsche Börse proposed a merger with Euronext (“merger of equals”). The plan faced political and regulatory scrutiny in France and Germany. Euronext ultimately chose a merger with NYSE instead. Deutsche Börse’s formal offer of €8.6 billion was rejected, and the EU Commission was notified in October 2006. Plans were dropped in November 2006.

SIX Swiss Exchange

A proposed merger with SIX in 2004 was rejected. In 2006, Deutsche Börse and SIX formed a joint venture “ALEX,” later renamed Scoach in 2007, to trade structured products. Scoach was dissolved in June 2013 and rebranded as Börse Frankfurt Zertifikate AG.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

In October 2006, reports emerged that Deutsche Börse and CME considered a merger, which would have made Deutsche Börse the junior partner.

Borsa Italiana

In mid-2006, Deutsche Börse explored cooperation and potential merger with Borsa Italiana, signing a letter of intent in October 2006. Discussions halted on 8 September 2006. Borsa Italiana was acquired by LSE in 2007 for €1.5 billion.

International Securities Exchange (ISE)

On 30 April 2007, Eurex (a joint venture of Deutsche Börse and SIX) agreed to acquire ISE for $2.8 billion, with Deutsche Börse covering 85 % of the cost. ISE remained a standalone SEC-regulated exchange. In March 2016, Deutsche Börse sold ISE to Nasdaq, Inc. for $1.1 billion, closing on 30 June 2016.

NYSE Euronext

In February 2011, trading in Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext shares was suspended amid merger talks. The EU blocked the deal on 1 February 2012, citing competition concerns.

London Stock Exchange Group merger (2016–2017)

On 23 February 2016, Deutsche Börse announced plans to merge with LSE Group in a “merger of equals,” giving Deutsche Börse shareholders 54.4 % of the new company. Annual synergies of €450 million were projected. The deal was filed with the EU Commission on 25 August 2016. Talks collapsed in February 2017 due to Brexit-related seat concerns and inquiries into CEO Carsten Kengeter. The EU formally prohibited the merger on 29 March 2017 due to a de facto monopoly in bond clearing.

Memberships

Deutsche Börse is a member of:

• World Federation of Exchanges
• Federation of European Securities Exchanges
• Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative

Literature

• André Alfes: Central Counterparty – Contract Formation on Xetra. Duncker & Humblot, 2005.
• Herbert Alsheimer: The Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Societäts-Verlag, 2006.
• Deutsche Börse: Organisation and Operations – Deutsche Börse AG. 1993.
• Hartmut Kiehling: “The German Stock Exchange 1920–1923.” Bankhistorisches Archiv, 1995.
• Werner G. Seifert: Invasion der Heuschrecken. Econ-Verlag.
• Otto Wormser: The Frankfurt Exchange. Mohr, 1919 (Reprint 1993).

External links

• https://deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-de/ Official website