(Bloomberg) -- Cboe Global Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Fred Tomczyk said the firm still has appetite to do deals if the right opportunity emerges.
“We just haven’t found the right target at the right price,” Tomczyk said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “We don’t want to do an acquisition that doesn’t make a difference.”
Tomczyk, 69, took the helm just over a year ago after previous leader Ed Tilly resigned following an investigation that determined he didn’t disclose personal relationships with colleagues. Chicago-based Cboe — a derivatives and exchange network that operates worldwide — had grown through acquisitions over the years but slowed down its M&A activity under Tomczyk’s leadership.
The executive, who was brought in as an emergency replacement to Tilly, said he’s not in a hurry to name a successor and that he’s working through that with the board.
“I’m not in a rush. But obviously at my age, in my life this is not a long-term thing for me,” Tomczyk said. “I just want to make sure it is done in the proper way, and in an orderly way.”
Tomczyk is no stranger to Cboe or leadership, having served on the board of the company. He was also the CEO of TD Ameritrade for eight years. A number of high profile executives have exited Cboe to join rival firms since Tilly’s departure including global head of derivatives Arianne Adams and president of Cboe Digital John Palmer.
Best known for inventing the options market in the 1970s, Cboe has evolved from its days as a trading pit to an electronic platform. It bought Bats Global Markets in 2017 to expand into trading stocks, exchange-traded funds and currencies.
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