(Reuters) -Miami International Holdings, the parent of exchange operator MIAX, will begin trading on the NYSE later on Thursday, ending a 15-year drought in flotations by U.S. financial exchanges.
The Princeton, New Jersey-based company sold 15 million shares above the marketed range of $19 to $21 apiece to raise $345 million on Wednesday, one of the biggest listings of a U.S. bourse operator.
Only a handful of U.S. exchange operators have gone public since the 2000s and Miami International’s listing had been a long time coming as the company confidentially filed for an IPO in 2022.
CME Group was the first U.S. exchange to go public in 2002, while Cboe Global Markets listed in 2010.
Exchanges have also thrived this year as heightened market volatility fueled record trading volumes and boosted profits.
MIAX entered the fray in 2007 after a wave of consolidation amongst equity and options exchanges. It is led by Thomas Gallagher, one of its principal founders.
“I’m not worried about fragmentation. I’m not worried about the aspects of having a very diverse set of exchanges,” Gallagher told Reuters in an interview.
“I just think it’s a matter of those that have the right technology, those that have the right infrastructure, the right relationships with their market participants.”
OPTIONS FOCUS
While MIAX operates nine exchanges across asset classes such as equities and futures, the majority of its revenue comes from options trading.
The company launched its first options exchange in 2012 and has gained market share from rivals over the past decade. In the first half of 2025, it had a 16% market share in the U.S. options industry, behind only the NYSE, Nasdaq, and Cboe, according to the Options Clearing Corporation.
MIAX launched its fourth U.S. equity options exchange last year.
While it currently does not have any products involving crypto futures, the company is open to expanding its offerings if the opportunity comes.
“If a crypto partner comes to me and says, we’d like to do a joint venture to bring a crypto offering, either to your futures exchange or some type of an option on some crypto index, we’re open for business,” Gallagher said.
Besides buyout firm Warburg Pincus, Miami International is backed by trading firms Susquehanna and Wolverine.
(Reporting by Rishab Shaju and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru and Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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