Westlake-based financial services giant Charles Schwab Corp. has agreed to acquire San Francisco-based Forge Global Holdings Inc. [NYSE: FRGE] for roughly $660 million.
Forge operates a premier private market platform and a leading trading marketplace through which investors have bought and sold more than $17 billion in private company shares.
“Our acquisition of Forge builds on more than half a century of Schwab innovating on behalf of individual investors, advisors and employers,” Rick Wurster, president and CEO of Charles Schwab, said in a statement. “Through Forge’s leading marketplace, we’re uniquely positioned to deepen liquidity, improve transparency, and further democratize access to this increasingly important source of wealth creation for investors. Schwab’s entry into this space also gives private‑share issuers more choice and liquidity for founders, employees, and early backers.”
Wurster took the helm at Charles Schwab in January, replacing retiring CEO Walt Bettinger.
Tapping into diversification trend
Forge’s combination of a direct marketplace, private company solutions, and proprietary data helps enhance private market access and transparency for qualified investors, Schwab said. Forge also has forthcoming interval funds that are designed to broaden access to private market exposure with lower costs and reduced minimums.
Schwab said the acquisition accelerates its strategy to deliver private markets capabilities to retail and advisor clients and build on its expansive suite of wealth, advisory, and investment management solutions, to meet the complex needs of investors.
The company said that multi-decade industry trends and rising investor demand for broader diversification are driving sustained momentum in private markets. Private wealth capital allocated to alternative asset classes is expected to grow from $4 trillion today to $13 trillion by 2032, Schwab noted.
The addition of direct access to private securities through Forge builds on the recent launch of Schwab Alternative Investments Select, a new alternative investments platform supported by a dedicated team of experts, which is now available to all eligible retail clients with more than $5 million in household assets at Schwab.
Earlier this month, Schwab announced the launch of Schwab Private Issuer Equity Services, a complete equity management solution it said is designed to support private companies in the late stages prior to IPO. Schwab said it makes Schwab’s decades of experience managing equity programs for the world’s largest public companies available to private company administrators looking for a partner that can scale with them.
Offering ‘new ways to invest in the innovation economy’
Together, Schwab and Forge aim to unite private stock plan administration and liquidity access in a single, integrated ecosystem that benefits all participants.
Schwab said it will build on Forge’s decade-plus experience helping private companies deliver capital and liquidity solutions via a partnership model rooted in company approval and trusted collaboration.
“This combination will transform how the private market works,” Forge CEO Kelly Rodriques said in a statement. “With Schwab’s reach and Forge’s solutions, private companies will gain access to liquidity and new growth options from an expanded market of qualified retail investors, while investors will gain new ways to invest in the innovation economy. Together, we’re making the private markets work better for everyone.”
Wurster said the deal will result in growth in the private securities space.
“Access to Schwab’s 46 million client accounts and $11.6 trillion in client assets creates a strong distribution platform for private securities,” said Wurster. “With the pool of private companies growing and remaining private for longer, a leading platform for individual investors to participate in private markets offers durable, strategic value. We expect meaningful growth in this space and believe our platform will become a go-to venue where retail investors discover new investment opportunities.”
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