On Monday, the European Commission gave unconditional approval for the acquisition of NYSE Euronext by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The said purchase was priced at US$8.2 billion which strengthens ICE's presence in the lucrative trading business.
Last week, Reuters reported that the approval would be given unconditionally. The EU regulator stated that after they have conducted investigation into the merger, it found out that antitrust concerns would not occur as the two exchanges are not direct competitors.
The purchase gave ICE control of Liffe, a London based derivatives markets and the second biggest in Europe. It will help ICE to compete with its US rival CME Group.
The merger was thoroughly examined agriculture and soft commodity derivatives. US equity derivatives were also scrutinized. The investigation concluded that no competition concerns were found.
The collaboration of ICE-NYSE Euronext would be the third biggest exchange group worldwide. It would be behind the no.1 Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and the CME Group.
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