Nasdaq Private Market (NPM), a leading provider of
secondary liquidity solutions to private companies, employees, and
investors, announced today that it has added
HiJoJo
Partners (HJJ) as a new investor and the company’s first
Japanese and Asian-based financial institution. HJJ will join NPM’s
existing consortium of premier global financial institutions and
investors to strengthen the private market products and investment
vehicles available to the burgeoning Japanese private equity
sector.
This announcement comes following the January
2024 closing of the company’s $62.4 million Series B financing
round led by Nasdaq with participation from
Allen & Company, Citi, and
Goldman Sachs, and with new investments from
BNP Paribas, DRW Venture Capital,
UBS, and Wells Fargo.
NPM plans to leverage HJJ’s investment to
accelerate new product development and its global footprint in
Japan and across Asia Pacific. The strategic alliance will help to
elevate NPM’s brand awareness throughout Japan, market the NPM
SecondMarketTM trading platform to eligible Japanese investors, and
support startups in raising capital internationally.
“We are excited to welcome HiJoJo Partners as a
key strategic investor and our first based out of Japan. Together,
we believe that we can create a more efficient and accessible
private market for startups, other disruptive private companies,
institutional investors, and shareholders in Japan and across Asia
Pacific,” said Tom Callahan, Chief Executive Officer,
Nasdaq Private Market. “As a highly esteemed,
industry-leading asset management firm in the region, HiJoJo is the
ideal partner to join our elite class of investors.”
NPM operates as an independent entity with
strong support from its industry-backed consortium of investors.
Collectively, the company serves private companies, employees and
investors with a high-integrity trading, settlement, data, and
wealth platform. Today, the company services some of the world’s
most innovative private companies with solutions for the liquidity
needs of their employees and institutional investors. The company
has executed more than $50 billion in transactional value across
760 company-sponsored liquidity programs and block trades since
inception.
"We are honored and delighted to become an
investor in Nasdaq Private Market and expand our business in Japan
together. Leveraging NPM's track record and experience, we look
forward to delivering attractive private asset investment products
to Japanese investors,” commented Spyridon
Mentzas, Chief Executive Officer of HiJoJo
Partners. “We also aim to support the creation of a
platform for private stock trading, fostering collaboration between
Japanese and U.S. startups, multinational companies, shareholders,
and investors contributing to the rejuvenation of the Japanese
innovation economy and enhancing industrial competitiveness."
NPM’s primary business lines include Company
Solutions, SecondMarketTM Trading Marketplace, Transfer and
Settlement, Tape DTM Data and Analytics, as well as Wealth
Solutions. Its Company Solutions supports private companies using
proprietary technology to facilitate tenders, auctions, and
pre-direct listing programs. The SecondMarketTM Trading Marketplace
is bringing transparency and efficiency to the block trading of
private shares with a model fully aligned with the interests of
private companies. Its patent-pending Transfer and Settlement
technology streamlines the complex, burdensome process of
post-match workflows for companies and trading counterparties. Tape
DTM Data and Analytics delivers actionable insights into trading
activity and private companies for employees and investors. Wealth
Solutions is connecting clients with resources to manage their
newly earned funds and support tax requirements.
About Nasdaq Private
MarketNasdaq Private Market provides liquidity solutions
for private companies, employees, and investors throughout each
stage of the pre-IPO lifecycle. In 2013, the company was founded
within Nasdaq, Inc. Today it is an independent company with
strategic investments from Nasdaq, Allen & Company, BNP
Paribas, Citi, DRW Venture Capital, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley,
UBS, and Wells Fargo.
Learn more at www.nasdaqprivatemarket.com. Visit
LinkedIn and X @npm for the latest company news.
About HiJoJo PartnersHiJoJo
Partners is a Japanese independent asset management firm founded in
2017 by Spyridon Mentzas. It is one of the largest VC funds
investing in U.S. unicorn companies, selling to Japanese investors
through face-to-face and online channels. HJJ has achieved total
sales exceeding 35 billion yen. Shareholders include major Japanese
financial institutions such as Credit Saison, Mizuho Securities,
SBI Group, Finatext Holdings, MUFG Innovation Partners, Okasan
Securities Group, Japan Investment Adviser, and Monex Group.
AdvisorsJefferies LLC acted as
financial advisor and placement agent to Nasdaq Private Market, and
Cooley LLP served as legal advisor.
Media Contacts
Nasdaq Private MarketAmanda
GoldAmanda.Gold@npm.com
HiJoJo PartnersYoichi Morimoto
morimoto@hijojo.com
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release contains forward-looking statements, within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including statements with respect to the joint venture among Nasdaq
Private Market, Nasdaq, Allen & Company, Citi, Goldman Sachs,
Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, DRW Venture Capital, UBS, and Wells
Fargo and the benefits of the joint venture, and statements about
Nasdaq Private Market, Nasdaq, Allen & Company, Citi, Goldman
Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, DRW Venture Capital, UBS, and
Wells Fargo and their respective products and offerings. We caution
that these statements are not guarantees of future performance.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, or other
factors beyond the control of the joint venture participants. These
factors include, but are not limited to, factors detailed in each
joint venture participant’s annual report on Form 10-K and periodic
reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The
joint venture participants undertake no obligation to release any
revisions to any forward-looking statements.
Disclosures and DisclaimersNPM
is not: (a) a registered exchange under the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934; (b) a registered investment adviser under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940; or (c) a financial or tax planner and does
not offer legal or financial advice to any user of the NPM website
or its services. Securities-related services are offered through
NPM Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer and alternative
trading system, and member FINRA/SIPC. Transactions in securities
conducted through NPM Securities, LLC are not listed or traded on
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, nor are the securities subject to the
same listing or qualification standards applicable to securities
listed or traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.
Please read these other important disclosures and disclaimers
about NPM found here:
https://www.nasdaqprivatemarket.com/disclosures-disclaimer/