Exchange Operator MIAX Jumps 36% After $345 Million IPO

Miami International Holdings (MIAX) signage during the company's initial public offering (IPO) on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 14.

(Bloomberg) -- Miami International Holdings Inc. rose 36% from its initial public offering price as the exchange operator became the most recent financial services business to get a warm welcome in its trading debut.

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Shares rose to $31.30 as of 12:26 p.m. on Thursday, versus an IPO price of $23. MIAX, as the company is known, raised $345 million in a heavily oversubscribed deal. Shares were marketed in a range of $19 to $21 apiece, according to the company. The trading gives MIAX a market value of $2.5 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in its filing.

MIAX operates nine securities and derivatives exchanges, and has a 16% market share of the US-listed options market. Options trading has exploded since the Covid-19 pandemic and the meme-stock craze of 2021. Options in the US trade on exchanges, meaning MIAX and its competitors, such as Cboe Global Markets Inc, Nasdaq Inc and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. have benefited from the rise in retail trading.

“The retail presence since the pandemic has fueled our growth,” MIAX chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gallagher told Bloomberg in an interview from the New York Stock Exchange, where he rang the opening bell.

MIAX investors include Warburg Pincus, Citadel Securities and Susquehanna International Group. Around a third of its shares are owned by executives and directors, with a fifth of the company’s shares owned by market making firms.

Instead of dealing with retail traders directly, exchanges serve the market makers who buy retail order flow, allowing brokers like Robinhood Markets Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. to offer free trading to small investors.

Gallagher said MIAX’s main focus was serving its market makers.

“We are laser beam focused on the experiences of the Citadel’s, the Susquehanna’s, the IMCs, the Optivers of the world, the true market makers,” he said, referring to the world’s largest options trading firms.

The company’s debut comes one day after that of Bullish, a crypto exchange and data company, which surged 84% on its first trading day, and continued to gain on Thursday.

Trading venues backed by large Wall Street firms have a strong record as public companies. Shares in bond market matchmaker Tradeweb Inc. have risen 386% since the company’s 2019 IPO.

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The offering was led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler Cos. The company’s shares trade on the NYSE under the symbol MIAX.

--With assistance from Anthony Hughes.

(Updates trading, adds market cap)

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