Toronto Stock Exchange owner accelerates American expansion
TMX Group Ltd., the operator behind the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange, is significantly expanding its presence in the United States with an $800 million investment in New York-based exchange operator and market technology company MEMX.
The deal marks a major step in TMX’s strategy to grow beyond Canada and build a stronger position in U.S. financial markets. The company will also merge BOX, its U.S. equity options exchange, with MEMX to create a combined entity valued at approximately US$2.3 billion.
TMX to become majority owner of combined exchange group
Following the transaction, expected to close in 2027, TMX will own 59% of the new combined company. MEMX is expected to hold around 10% of the U.S. equity options market and approximately 2% of the broader U.S. equities market.
TMX Chief Executive Officer John McKenzie said those figures represent only the beginning of the company’s ambitions in the United States.
“This is a substantial building block for us,” McKenzie said, comparing the company’s expansion strategy to the way Canadian banks have grown through acquisitions and investments in U.S. financial markets.
TMX builds U.S. presence through acquisitions
TMX has increasingly shifted its strategic focus toward the U.S. market since September 2023, when it hired Wall Street veteran Heidi Fischer as its first president of U.S. equity trading.
Since then, the company has completed several investments designed to strengthen its American operations. One of its largest moves was the acquisition of VettaFi, a provider of indexes and exchange-traded fund technology, through transactions totaling more than US$1 billion.
VettaFi has become an important growth driver for TMX, with revenue from the division increasing 40% in its latest quarter compared with the same period in 2025.
MEMX deal expands TMX’s market capabilities
The MEMX transaction could provide TMX with significantly broader capabilities in the U.S. financial ecosystem. In 2025, TMX launched a U.S. alternative trading system (ATS), allowing the company to compete as a marketplace for securities trading.
However, ATS platforms cannot directly list securities. Through MEMX, TMX will gain the ability to compete with major U.S. exchange operators such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq in areas including company listings, exchange-traded funds and additional trading services.
McKenzie emphasized that TMX is not seeking to directly challenge existing exchange operators but instead aims to build new market opportunities.
TMX hopes to bring Canadian venture model abroad
The TMX CEO said the company sees potential in expanding elements of Canada’s venture market model internationally, particularly into markets such as the United States and Australia.
McKenzie highlighted Canada’s venture ecosystem as a unique strength and said TMX believes parts of that model could potentially be replicated in other jurisdictions, although developing those markets would take time.
Additional acquisitions strengthen global expansion
TMX is also moving forward with the acquisition of Canadian and Australian assets from Chicago-based Cboe Global Markets Inc. The company purchased those assets for US$300 million in April.
The Australian transaction is expected to close soon, with Cboe Australia president Emma Quinn and her team joining TMX Australia as part of the integration.
The Canadian assets, including the MATCHNow platform and NEO Exchange, are expected to require more regulatory review. Because the acquisition would further strengthen TMX’s dominant position in Canada’s domestic exchange market, some critics have raised concerns about competition.
TMX says Cboe Canada deal will improve efficiency
McKenzie said the Competition Bureau review of the Cboe Canada transaction is progressing and argued that the deal is designed to improve efficiency and lower costs for market participants.
With its MEMX investment, VettaFi expansion and additional exchange acquisitions, TMX is positioning itself as a broader North American financial infrastructure provider rather than solely a Canadian exchange operator.