Abaxx Technologies a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, “Abaxx Exchange” and “Abaxx Clearing”), and producer of the SmarterMarkets™ Podcast, announced it has acquired a strategic position in ARTEX AG, the world’s first regulated, institutionally-backed, trading venue for fine art, which is operated by ARTEX Global Markets AG (“ARTEX Global Markets”), a subsidiary of ARTEX.
In connection with this strategic investment, Abaxx has entered into a cooperation agreement with ARTEX, which provides access to a new regulated financial market for Abaxx’s proprietary Digital Title and ID++ technology; and the opportunity to develop new tradeable futures contracts on Abaxx Exchange, based on a transparent, transaction-based price index for fine art.
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The cooperation is anchored in a shared interest in building new market infrastructure and trusted technology to unlock value in historically opaque real-asset markets — and providing Abaxx with deepened access and capabilities in Europe, including:
- Access to a new commercial vertical for Abaxx’s Private Digital Title and ID++ technology within the multi-trillion dollar addressable market for tokenized global financial assets.
- A source of transparent, real-time transaction data for securitized fine art, which can serve as the basis for a fine art price index, on which a benchmark futures contract can be developed for trading on Abaxx Exchange.
- A strategic partnership with a regulated exchange in Europe and access for Abaxx Exchange to ARTEX’s network of institutional partners, including European banks, asset managers, and other major financial institutions¹.
“Smarter markets require smarter data and trusted market infrastructure,” said Josh Crumb, Founder and CEO of Abaxx. “The global art market—with $2.5 trillion of assets in private hands — has remained opaque and illiquid precisely because it lacks both². What ARTEX has accomplished is incredibly difficult. Like Abaxx, they are innovators who have spent years building the foundational, regulated infrastructure needed to unlock a new asset class. By integrating our platforms, we expand our technology footprint into a global asset class and secure the foundation for a pipeline of new, tradable futures products on Abaxx Exchange.”
“Abaxx is the ideal partner to accelerate our mission,” said Yassir Benjelloun-Touimi, CEO & Co-Founder of ARTEX. “My career has centered on creating liquid, tradable markets from complex and illiquid assets, and Abaxx shares that DNA. Their expertise in market structure and state-of-the-art digital title technology are the perfect complement to our regulated exchange. Together, we will enhance robustness, expand global reach and provide critical validation to our institutional partners as we establish art as a legitimate mainstream asset class.”
ARTEX Investment Details
Under the terms of the securities exchange agreement, Abaxx will acquire two tranches of zero-coupon convertible debentures (the “Artex Debentures”), convertible into (i) up to 10% of Artex’s issued and outstanding common shares on a fully diluted basis at the time of conversion, for a period of three years from the date of issuance of each respective Debenture at a deemed conversion price of USD$1,000,000 per approximately 1% of Artex’s issued and outstanding common shares on a fully diluted basis, and (ii) common share purchase warrants issued by Artex (the “Artex Warrants”) giving Abaxx the right to acquire up to an additional 9.9% of Artex’s issued and outstanding common shares on a fully diluted basis, exercisable for a period of three years from the respective date of issuance of the Artex Warrants at an exercise price based on the valuation of Artex at the time of exercise, as approved by Artex’s board
of directors and, where applicable, regulatory approvals.
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