The owner of the 220-year-old New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday agreed to an $8.2 billion deal that would give control of the long-standing symbol of American capitalism to an upstart competitor.
NYSE Euronext said that it would sell itself to the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) for about $33.12 a share in cash and stock. The combined company would have headquarters in both ICE's home of Atlanta and in New York.
The takeover signals the revival of consolidation within the world of market operators, after a wave of deals dissipated amid concerns over antitrust and nationalist sentiment. ICE itself had partnered with NYSE Euronext's main rival, the Nasdaq OMX Group, in an $11 billion hostile bid for the Big Board's parent, only to see that offer blocked by the US Justice Department.
NYSE Euronext itself had sought to combine with Deutsche Börse, creating a global giant in the trading of derivatives. But that merger was stymied by European antitrust regulators.
Thursday's deal is expected to run into fewer problems. ICE and NYSE Euronext have little overlap: the former focuses on the trading of commodities like energy products, the latter on stocks and derivatives.
Indeed, while the New York Stock Exchange, with its opening bell and floor traders, has been the public image of a stock market for two centuries, it is NYSE Euronext's businesses in the over-the-counter trading of derivatives — including the Liffe market in London — that is the main attraction in the merger talks.
As part of the deal, ICE will consider spinning off NYSE Euronext's European stock market operations.
Shareholders of NYSE Euronext would own about 36 per cent of the combined company.
ICE's chief executive, Jeffrey C Sprecher, would keep that role in the newly enlarged market operator. NYSE Euronext's chief, Duncan L Niederauer, would be president. Both companies relied on armies of advisers. ICE was advised by Morgan Stanley; BMO Capital Markets; Broadhaven Capital Partners; JPMorgan Chase; Lazard; Societe Generale; and Wells Fargo. It received legal counsel from Sullivan & Cromwell and Shearman & Sterling.
NYSE Euronext was advised by Perella Weinberg Partners; BNP Paribas; the Blackstone Group; Citigroup; Goldman Sachs; and Moelis & Company.
It was counselled by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Slaughter & May; and Stibbe NV.
© 2012 The New York Times News Service
