GREENWICH, Conn., April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Freepoint Commodities LLC, a Connecticut-based physical commodity trading and marketing company, today announced it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire J.P. Morgan Metals & Concentrates LLC, a leading global merchant of physical base metal concentrates and copper cathodes. Under the terms of the transaction, Freepoint will acquire 100 percent of the equity of the business from J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upon the consummation of the transaction, the name of the acquired company will be changed to Freepoint Metals & Concentrates LLC. The transaction is subject to customary governmental merger approvals.

Employees of J.P. Morgan's concentrates business, who are based in Stamford, Connecticut and Asia, will join Freepoint's growing physical commodity trading business. The concentrates business is one of the business lines that JPMorgan Chase acquired from The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and Sempra Energy in 2010.

"At Freepoint, we are building our business around seasoned professionals with physical commodity merchant expertise, and J.P. Morgan Concentrates fits that vision perfectly," said David A. Messer, CEO of Freepoint. "We are a talent-focused company and the business we are acquiring has one of the deepest, most experienced teams in the industry. We know this not only because of their long, proven track record and established global market presence. We know this from personal experience: most of those joining us are our former colleagues and we're extremely happy to have them on the Freepoint team." 

Since it was founded in February 2011, Freepoint has focused on building a team of industry specialists with proven track records in the commodities trading market. Today, the company has more than 150 employees in U.S. offices in Greenwich, Connecticut, Houston, Texas, Louisville, Kentucky, and Boise, Idaho, and international offices in London, Toronto and Zug. The company's markets currently include North American and European gas and power, oil and oil products, emissions, coal, and LNG. Freepoint is also committed to building a presence in Asia. 

"In acquiring the J.P. Morgan concentrates business we are taking another important step forward in our business plan of bringing together a team with the level of talent and capabilities that made Sempra Energy Trading so successful," Messer concluded. "As we grow, we see enormous opportunities for our company."

J.P. Morgan Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corporation in this transaction.

About Freepoint Commodities

Founded by former Sempra Energy Trading executives, Freepoint Commodities is based in Greenwich, Connecticut and initiated trading and marketing in June 2011. Management, employees and private equity funds managed by Stone Point Capital have provided the initial equity capital for the company.

Media Contacts:

Ruby Landow
Vice President, Business Manager
+1 203 542 6012
info@freepointcommodities.com

Janine Savarese
RF|Binder
+1 212 994 7608
Janine.savarese@rfbinder.com

Jennifer Zuccarelli
Media Relations, J.P. Morgan
212-270-7433
Jennifer.r.zuccarelli@jpmorgan.com

SOURCE Freepoint Commodities LLC