Venture capitalist replaces Sandor on Liffe board

The London International Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) has appointed Chinh Chu, senior managing director of private equity at New York-based venture capital firm, The Blackstone Group, to its board. He replaces derivatives veteran, Richard Sandor, who will continue to serve as a director on the board of NQLX, Liffe’s joint venture with Nasdaq that allows the trading of single-stock futures in the US.

Blackstone jointly owns a 29.4% stake in Liffe along with New York-based venture capital firm Battery Ventures, and owns a special rights share in the exchange that allows the two companies to appoint a director each to the Liffe board. Battery Venture’s Scott Tobin already sits on the board of Liffe, and Blackstone has decided to exercise its right to appoint Chu.

A Liffe spokesperson told RiskNews that Blackstone thought it was the right time to exercise these rights, and that the news has been made public due to the current situation, where the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and pan-European exchange, Euronext, are finalising offers for a takeover bid of Liffe. The LSE has already made an indicative bid, understood to value Liffe at up to £389 million.

Before joining Blackstone in 1990, Chu worked in the mergers and acquisitions department at Salomon Brothers, now part of Citigroup.