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Expects strong demand for event contracts

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Robinhood to balance building with buying

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Industry competition heats up

(Adds executive comment in paragraph 2)

By Manya Saini and Niket Nishant

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Trading platform Robinhood Markets ( HOOD )

is open to potential acquisitions in the fast-growing

prediction markets space if the right opportunity presents

itself, a top executive told Reuters in an interview on Monday,

as interest in the once-niche asset class surges globally.

"We as a firm are going to be looking to see if there is an

acquisition that's available," said JB Mackenzie, vice president

and general manager of Futures and International at Robinhood.

"I'm always looking to see if there's something of interest, if

there is, we'll pursue it and see if it's the right fit."

"That being said, what we also know is we have really good

engineers that build great products here. So what we're going to

do is try to balance the two."

Prediction markets saw a surge in popularity during last

year's U.S. presidential election and have since evolved into an

asset class that lets investors wager on everything from

monetary policy to major sports tournaments.

Those bets are placed through event contracts. Each contract

represents a specific outcome that pays out if it occurs, or

expires worthless if it does not.

The sector's growth has also drawn startups such as

Underdog, which launched event contracts in September, allowing

customers to profit from their views on sporting leagues.

NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange ( ICE ) took a $2

billion stake in Polymarket last week, underscoring the heating

competition in the space.

Robinhood launched its hub for trading event contracts in

March, in partnership with prediction marketplace Kalshi, which

was valued at $5 billion in its last funding round. It has also

partnered with Interactive Brokers Group's ( IBKR ) ForecastEx.

Brokerage Piper Sandler estimated that revenues from

Robinhood's event contract offering were annualizing at over

$200 million in September.

"We estimate that Robinhood users account for about 25%-35%

of Kalshi volumes on any given day," Piper Sandler analysts

said.

Robinhood will also consider other avenues for growth,

including a joint venture or a partnership instead of an

outright acquisition, Mackenzie said.

The company's shares have climbed 273% so far this year,

through the previous close, lifting its market value to more

than $123 billion and earning it a spot in the benchmark S&P 500

index.

The company has rapidly broadened its offerings and

diversified its customer base in a bid to evolve from a retail

trading platform into a full-fledged financial services firm.