The merger between Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and NYSE Euronext is still going to result in a planned initial public offering for the Euronext portion of the business.
The move was confirmed during a conference call for media and analysts on Wednesday, following the firm’s Q1/2013 results, conducted by CEO Duncan Niederauer and CFO Michael Geltzeiler.
Since the announcement of the deal, market consensus has been that Euronext, the operator of exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon, would be a more likely candidate for a trade sale, either to another exchange, or to private equity.
The successful bid of US$8.2 billion made by ICE for NYSE Euronext was announced in late December 2012. The acquisition is now going through an approvals phase with European regulators, with equivalent American approvals already completed.
There will be a shareholder vote on 3 June 2013 and the acquisition will be finalised in the second half of the year. The planned Euronext IPO would be the next step after that. NYSE Euronext’s London-based derivatives exchange, Liffe, will remain part of the merged ICE-NYSE business.
NYSE Euronext said that migration of NYSE Clear accounts to ICE Clear would be undertaken before the end of June, but was not expected to be an operational problem, given that nearly all clients already possessed accounts there.
Separately, Euronext announced that it is increasing its manpower and resources for small and medium-sized companies in each of its operating jurisdictions. Part of an annual €18 million budget will be earmarked to set up new teams that will target smaller firms wanting to come to market.