EU regulators to approve $8.2 billion merger of NYSE and ICE, two of world's biggest financial exchanges: Report
2013-06-18 10:29:24
IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE) will receive an unconditional nod from the European Commission to take over NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) for $8.2 billion, sources told Reuters on Monday.
ICE operates commodities exchanges across the world, while NYSE Euronext operates London’s Liffe, which is Europe’s second largest derivatives market.
The deal allows ICE to compete with its U.S. rival, CME Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CME), a Chicago derivatives group.
According to sources interviewed by Reuters, the European Commission investigation focused on soft commodity derivatives like coffee, cocoa and sugar.
The investigation found that since ICE and NYSE Euronext deal in two different types of assets, prospects for a skewed competitive market would not be a concern.
An EU competitions policy spokesman declined to comment to Reuters. The official decision is set to be announced on June 24.