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IPC today announced that for the second consecutive year, its Unigy® platform has won the American Financial Technology Awards (AFTAs) ‘Best Communication Infrastructure Provider’ award. This recognition is bestowed to the firm that provides the most innovative communications infrastructure to the capital markets.

“It is an honor to be recognized for the second consecutive year as the ‘Best Communication Infrastructure Provider’ in the prestigious American Financial Technology Awards program,” said Bob Santella, Chief Executive Officer, IPC. “Our Unigy platform continues to emerge as a necessity for making the trading environment more efficient and productive, and this recognition is a testament to its strength in meeting a critical industry need on a global scale.”

IPC’s Unigy utilizes the latest trading communications technologies and a services-oriented architecture to bring flexibility and scalability to financial organizations. The unified communications platform is designed specifically to make the entire trading environment more productive, intelligent and efficient. Unigy enables financial organizations to enhance IPC applications or develop their own to work on the platform, giving them greater control through a fully integrated communications solution.

Hosted by WatersTechnology, the AFTAs recognize excellence in the deployment and management of financial technology within the asset management and investment banking communities.

“Year after year, IPC has proven itself to be one of the industry’s leading solutions providers, earning the honor of ‘Best Communication Infrastructure Provider’ in the 2021 American Financial Technology Awards,” said Victor Anderson, editor-in-chief, WatersTechnology. “The company’s flagship Unigy platform has once again risen above its competitors as one of the most innovative industry technologies, and we congratulate the entire IPC team on this notable achievement.”

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader powering the global financial markets. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With a customer-first mentality, IPC brings together one of the largest and most diverse global financial ecosystems spanning all asset classes and market participants. As the enabler of this ecosystem, IPC empowers the community to interact, transact and react to market changes and challenges, and we collaborate with our customers to help make them secure, productive, compliant and connected. Follow us on Linkedin and Twitter (@IPC_Systems_Inc)

 

About WatersTechnology

Each month, Waters reports and analyzes the practical implementation of financial technology in the wholesale banking and securities industries. Since its launch in 1993, financial IT professionals worldwide have relied on the magazine for its focused, in-depth coverage of financial market data and technology as well as the human issues of talent management, staff retention and compensation within the financial services community. With more than 10,000 subscribers, Waters readers enjoy the insights of CIOs and CTOs from the global capital markets. Waters is published by Incisive Media Plc. For more information, please visit www.watersonline.com

 

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projection and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

IPC, a leading provider of secure, compliant communications and multi-cloud connectivity solutions for the global financial markets, announced today the launch of Connexus Crypto, a market leading arbitrage enabling solution for cryptocurrency trading powered by the industry-leading Connexus Cloud platform.  This unique solution is performance engineered to support complex trading strategies and provides low latency connectivity to global crypto-exchanges, enabling instant access to liquidity.

“Cryptocurrency trading is growing exponentially, and institutional investors seeking alpha are increasingly prioritizing crypto trading.” commented Joseph Pickel, Vice President, Product Strategy, IPC. “Cryptocurrency markets are vital to portfolio diversification and are consequently critical for investment strategies. Today’s announcement emphasizes IPC’s steadfast commitment to enabling market participants to trade successfully in the global cryptocurrency markets with innovative solutions. In particular, we have observed that cryptocurrency arbitrage can be an effective tool for investors seeking low-risk yields.”

Connexus Crypto is also an arbitrage accelerating solution that places market participants ahead of the competition by enabling investors to simultaneously buy and sell a cryptocurrency in different markets and take advantage of any price differences. This is possible as Connexus Crypto offers superior reliability and inter-exchange connectivity while mitigating the biggest risk to successfully exploiting arbitrage opportunities – price slippage – due to its low latency characteristics, rapid execution times and market leading reliability.

Connexus Crypto is underpinned by IPC’s flagship multi-cloud platform Connexus Cloud, an ecosystem that interconnects more than 7,000 diverse capital market participants across 750 cities in over 60 countries, all bolstered by market-leading follow-the-sun customer support. The Connexus Cloud portfolio includes Connexus Extranet, Connexus Ethernet and Connexus WAN, as well as Connexus Voice services.

 

 

NEW YORK, October 22, 2021 – IPC Systems, Inc. (“IPC” or the “Company”), a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the global financial markets, today announced that Doug Gilstrap has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors.

As an expert in IT and Telecom related infrastructure for both enterprise and service-provider markets, Gilstrap is expected to contribute extensive, global perspective as IPC’s new Chairman. He also possesses a deep breadth of experience working with companies in the business services and FinTech industries.

“Doug’s expertise will be incredibly valuable in continuing IPC’s mission to provide our customers with best-in-class trading solutions and support,” said Bob Santella, Chief Executive Officer of IPC. “He has a proven track record leading high-performing teams and is an ideal choice to lead IPC’s Board of Directors.”

Victor Khosla, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of SVPGlobal, said: “We are excited to welcome Doug to the Board at a pivotal moment for IPC. Doug is a visionary leader with deep industry experience, and we look forward to partnering with him as well as the other talented members of IPC’s Board.”

“We look forward to Doug joining IPC and working with Bob and the rest of the team,” said Jared Hendricks, Senior Managing Director of Centerbridge Partners, L.P. “Doug’s perspective and skillset will be highly additive to IPC as part of the Company’s next phase of growth and innovation.”

Gilstrap is a Venture Partner with TCV, a leading provider of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry, as well as an advisor to another global investment firm that has delivered consistent returns across multiple geographies and industries. Previously, Gilstrap served as Chief Strategy Officer for Ericsson, a role that included chairing the company’s M&A Investment Committee. Prior to that, Gilstrap was Head of Strategy for Cable and Wireless; CEO of Radianz, a secure low latency and hosting financial services data extranet; and CFO and COO of Equant Networks (NYSE: ENT), a global data network services company. Gilstrap received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Richmond and his Master of Business Administration from Emory University. He was a qualified CPA.

 About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader powering the global financial markets. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With a customer-first mentality, IPC brings together one of the largest and most diverse global financial ecosystems spanning all asset classes and market participants. As the enabler of this ecosystem, IPC empowers the community to interact, transact and react to market changes and challenges, and we collaborate with our customers to help make them secure, productive, compliant and connected. Visit www.ipc.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (@IPC_Systems_Inc).

About SVPGlobal

SVPGlobal is a global investment firm focused on distressed debt, special situations and private equity opportunities with more than $18.4 billion in assets under management. The firm, established by Victor Khosla in 2001, has approximately 130 employees, including approximately 50 investment professionals, across its main offices in Greenwich (CT), London and a presence in Tokyo. SVPGlobal is a signatory of the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI is recognized as the leading global network for investors committed to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment decision making. Learn more at www.svpglobal.com.

About Centerbridge Partners

Centerbridge Partners, L.P. is a private investment management firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplines — private equity, private credit and real estate — in an effort to develop the most attractive opportunities for our investors. The Firm was founded in 2005 and as of August 31, 2021 has approximately $32 billion in capital under management with offices in New York and London.  Centerbridge is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams across targeted industry sectors and geographies. For more information, please visit www.centerbridge.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

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New York – October 6th, 2021 – IPC, a leading provider of secure, compliant communications and multi-cloud connectivity solutions for the global financial markets, announced today that its industry-leading solution for Traders to work remotely, Unigy Soft Client, is now Citrix Ready.  

Citrix Ready is a technology partner program that helps software and hardware vendors of all types develop and integrate their products with Citrix technology for Digital Workspace, Networking, and Analytics. To earn the Citrix Ready designation, partners must validate their solutions through a robust testing and verification process that ensures compatibility with Citrix solutions. 

Unigy Soft Client provides users with the same functionality, consistency, and flexibility that is expected from Unigy, regardless of location. The application can be rapidly deployed and delivers powerful features with the same intuitive look & feel and workflow as the end-user interface of the IQ/MAX Touch financial terminal. Traders and other regulated users can replicate virtually the same experience they have physically in the office anywhere, including at home. 

“Today’s traders demand a consistent experience wherever they work. Trading firms now need to have the ability to trade flexibly from anywhere– in a secure and compliant manner,” commented Joseph Pickel, VP Product Strategy, IPC. “This is an enormous competitive benefit in an uncertain and ever-shifting environment.” 

Used in conjunction with Citrix Workspace™,  Unigy Soft Client enables traders and all regulated users to: 

• Access their office work environment from anywhere using a virtual desktop infrastructure – no VPN needed 
• Leverage a unified communication solution created with today’s evolving trading needs in mind 

• Switch seamlessly between a turret and a soft client on a laptop or desktop device 
• Do their best work with a seamless workspace experience using a soft trading platform flexibly deployed, managed, and maintained from a centralized infrastructure 

“The modern workplace of today relies on real-time collaboration whether it’s an audio call among a few team members or a video conference hosting a large group of attendees. We are glad to onboard IPC to our ecosystem of Unified Communications solutions,” says John Panagulias, Director, Technology Partner Programs, Citrix. “Together IPC and Citrix help provide an integrated solution with a consistent user experience across various device types and platforms – even helping to enable capabilities on platforms without native client support.”  

About IPC 

IPC is a technology and service leader powering the global financial markets. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With a customer-first mentality, IPC brings together one of the largest and most diverse global financial ecosystems spanning all asset classes and market participants. As the enabler of this ecosystem, IPC empowers the community to interact, transact and react to market changes and challenges, and we collaborate with our customers to help make them secure, productive, compliant and connected. Visit ipc.com and follow us on Linkedin and Twitter (@IPC_Systems_Inc). 

 

October 1, 2021—New York, NY— IPC Systems, Inc. (“IPC” or the “Company”), a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the global financial markets, today announced that it has entered into a Transaction Support Agreement (the “Agreement”) with its key stakeholders that will reduce the Company’s debt by over $400 million, extend its debt maturity schedule by 5 years and provide new capital of $125 million to deliver the resources for investment in long-term growth strategies. 

Bob Santella, CEO of IPC, commented: “The balance sheet enhancements we are announcing today will allow us to continue building a robust future for IPC and strengthen our partnership with employees, customers, suppliers and other strategic relationships. I am especially excited about accelerating our efforts to provide our customers with new, innovative solutions for their mission-critical challenges – through both organic and inorganic actions in the months and years ahead.  We are also encouraged and thankful to have the support of our shareholders and lenders, which reflects their high level of confidence in us.” 

The parties to the Agreement include:  funds managed by Strategic Value Partners, LLC and its affiliates (“SVPGlobal”), a lender that, as a result of this transaction, will become a substantial equity sponsor and equityholder; affiliates of Centerbridge Partners, L.P. (“Centerbridge”), the Company’s existing private equity sponsor that will continue to be a significant equityholder; and certain of its current debt investors, including HPS Investment Partners, LLC. HPS will also serve as administrative agent for a group of lenders in a new and streamlined debt structure.  

Victor Khosla, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of SVPGlobal, said: “We strongly believe that, as the result of the agreement reached today, IPC will maintain its position as a global communications and networking solutions leader over the long term.  We are excited about renewing our partnership with IPC and, in our more active role, look forward to supporting management as they continue to provide the first-in-class services for which they are known.” 

Jared Hendricks, Senior Managing Director at Centerbridge, said: “IPC has an excellent track record of delivering innovative solutions to the world’s leading financial institutions, and Bob has done a tremendous job leading the Company since he joined in 2018.  We look forward to continuing to support IPC, Bob and his management team in their next phase of innovation and growth.” 

Mr. Santella continued: “At IPC, we pride ourselves on helping our clients anticipate change and solve problems, and this is equally true for how we manage our multi-award-winning business.  For nearly fifty years, we have evolved and adapted to grow and better serve our clients in a dynamic and changing industry. The actions we are announcing today will give the Company the financial foundation to continue setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology solutions for many years to come.” 

“We are grateful to our employees for their continued hard work and dedication to IPC’s clients throughout this process.  We also thank our customers, suppliers and other business partners for their support as we focused on aligning IPC’s financial structure for long-term success,” Santella concluded.  

IPC’s professional advisors included Kirkland & Ellis and Evercore. 

About IPC 

IPC is a technology and service leader powering the global financial markets. With a customer-first mentality, IPC brings together one of the largest and most diverse global financial ecosystems spanning all asset classes and market participants.  As the enabler of this ecosystem, IPC empowers the community to interact, transact and react to market changes and challenges, and we collaborate with our customers to help make them secure, productive, compliant and connected. Visit www.ipc.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (@IPC_Systems_Inc). 

About SVPGlobal 

SVPGlobal is a global investment firm focused on distressed debt, special situations and private equity opportunities with more than $17 billion in assets under management. The firm, established by Victor Khosla in 2001, has approximately 130 employees, including approximately 50 investment professionals, across its main offices in Greenwich (CT), London and a presence in Tokyo.  It was among the earliest U.S. distressed firms to establish a European office, opening in London in 2004.  In total, SVPGlobal has invested more than $36 billion of capital since its inception in 2001, including $16 billion in Europe, and led over 150 significant transactions.  SVPGlobal is a signatory of the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).  The PRI is recognized as the leading global network for investors committed to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment decision making.  Learn more at www.svpglobal.com. 

About Centerbridge 

Centerbridge is a private investment management firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplines — private equity, private credit and real estate — in an effort to develop the most attractive opportunities for our investors.  The Firm was founded in 2005 and as of July 1, 2021 has approximately $31 billion in capital under management with offices in New York and London.  Centerbridge is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams across targeted industry sectors and geographies.  For more information, please visit www.centerbridge.com.  

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.