The American exchange operator IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) announced on Thursday that it will acquire NYSE Euronext in a transaction valued at $8.2 billion, which is expected to ultimately create the largest exchange operator in the world.
ICE will pay $33.12 per share for NYSE Euronext according to the agreement reached, which implies a premium of 37.7 percent over the value of NYSE Euronext shares at the market close on Wednesday. This means that the total value of the transaction amounts to $8.2 billion. Of this, 67 percent of the agreed amount will be paid in ICE shares and the remainder in cash.
It is expected that after the transaction is completed in the second half of next year, NYSE Euronext shareholders will own approximately 36 percent of ICE’s shares.
The statement also notes that ICE intends to subsequently sell shares in Euronext “as a company based in continental Europe,” if European politicians and markets support such an operation.
Euronext operates leading stock markets in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Lisbon, while NYSE Euronext encompasses the New York Stock Exchange and the European derivatives market Liffe.
ICE, on the other hand, operates a specialized market for trading commodities and financial products related to exchange rates and interest rates.
The two operators estimate that the merger will reduce their operating costs by $450 million in the second full year of combined operations.
ICE plans to have two headquarters, in Atlanta and in New York, in the iconic NYSE building on Wall Street, according to the statement.
