Techfinancials leaps on Hong Kong binary options joint venture

The group, which floated on AIM in March, has entered into a joint venture with the owners of Optionfortune Trade which, due to the issue of new shares as part of the deal, will be subject to approval by TechFinancials shareholders in an extraordinary shareholder meeting in the next 30 days.

If the JV produces US$2m of net profit in calendar 2016, TechFinancials will issue Optionfortune's shareholders with $1.54m-worth of TechFinancials shares valued at its 27p AIM admission price, or the average price over 30 days prior to the closing date of the JV agreement, whichever the higher.

The new JV will be owned 51% by TechFinancials and 49% by the owners of Optionfortune, which has already been using the AIM company's software for two years.

Optionfortune's owners have enjoyed significant growth in the binary options market, where average monthly trading volume from January to September 2015 has been US$8.56m, with average monthly revenues of US$350,000.

"The JV will seek to expand its business activities in the Asia Pacific region, where it has already established a strong trading record, as the market for binary options in the region continues to grow."

Shares in TechFinancials were up 17% to 12.25p just after midday, having spiked as high as 15p earlier.