Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has boosted its presence in Europe through yet another acquisition, gaining a majority stake in the Holland Clearing House (HCH).
The European central counterparty (CCP) is the primary clearing house for The Order Machine (TOM) multilateral trading facility, a fast-growing equity options rival to Euronext in the country.
The clearing house gives ICE its first continental CCP, adding to its existing infrastructures in London and the US, while a Singapore-based clearing house is also set to launch in the coming months.
ABN Amro Clearing will retain a minority interest in the venture.
The Netherlands boasts a highly liquid equity options market with TOM and Euronext the competing trading venues offering single stock and index products.
As the newer of the two venues, TOM is looking to boost its market share and chief executive Willem Meijer believes the ICE acquisition of HCH will benefit the MTF.
“We feel that HCH together with ICE will be an excellent partner for our future growth,” said Meijer. “It will boost our business in the Netherlands and ambition outside of it. We will have access to a wider range of clearing members.”
For ICE, the acquisitions are coming thick and fast, with the HCH majority stake representing the second major move in the space of a week.
ICE took over data, analytics and valuation service provider SuperDerivatives in a US$350 million cash deal, adding to its growing list of deals over the past two years which also includes NYSE Euronext, European energy exchange Endex and the Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX).
ICE’s increasingly dominating presence is now expanding in the US, Europe and Asia.
“The support of ICE will add to HCH’s strengths, and through robust and efficient services, HCH is well positioned for growth,” said Joost Beckers, CEO of HCH.
The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2014.