IntercontinentalExchange Group (ICE) has announced the long-expected IPO of Euronext, with shares to be listed on Euronext Paris, Euronext Amsterdam, and Euronext Brussels.
ICE also intends to list Euronext shares on Euronext Lisbon, the fourth of its European exchanges trading equities, derivatives, and serving the fixed income market, after the IPO and before Q4 2014.
The price has not yet been set, and a prospectus is yet to be approved by the Dutch regulator. The management team expects to get prospectus approval before the summer, and aims for the transaction to be completed in the summer.
Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman and chief executive officer of ICE said in a statement, “We will continue to work closely with our market regulators to ensure a smooth transition to independence for Euronext. We believe that Euronext as a leader in Europe, should operate independently and in the interests of its customers and local economies.”
Dominique Cerutti, Euronext chief operating officer, said the IPO was an important milestone “enabling us to implement our strategy as an independent business”.
ICE, based in the United States, completed its take-over of NYSE Euronext in November last year as part of its purchase of the New York Stock Exchange. The acquisition went through an approvals phase with European regulators after ICE announced in December 2012 that it intended to acquire NYSE. Equivalent American approvals were also acquired. Part of the deal from the outset was that Euronext would be spun off, in order to meet competition rules. NYSE Euronext’s London-based derivatives exchange, Liffe, has been integrated into ICE.
ICE said in a statement that its intention was for Euronext to become independent, and that once independent Euronext would remix its business profile with further asset class diversification. Euronext will continue to trade on the Universal Trading Platform, a multi-asset class, multi-currency trading platform originally developed by technology unit NYSE Technologies for use throughout the NYSE Euronext group and by exchange clients.
Before the IPO, ICE is to sell 33% of the ordinary shares to institutional investors at a discounted rate. They will commit to keep the shares for three years.
These investors are Banco Espirito Santo, BNP Paribas SA, BNP Paribas Fortis, ABN Amro Bank, ASR Nederland NV, Caisse des dépots et consignations, Bpifrance Participations, Euroclear, Société Fédérale de Participations et d’investissement, and Banco BPI Pension Fund.
Euronext was an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of NYSE Euronext group from April 2007 to November 12, 2013, and has been an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of ICE since November 13 last year.