Chairman and CEO of IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) Jeffrey Sprecher said today his firm would focus on meeting guidelines in individual European states for its acquisition of exchange operator NYSE Euronext, after the deal received approval from the European Commission.
Speaking at the International Derivatives Expo in London today, Sprecher said his focus would now be on ensuring the merger complies with national regulations in individual EU member states and on integrating the two businesses together.
"Our markets grew up in different ways and have different practices, the key question for us is how do we put them together and get it right while still serving local markets? This is something we will be thinking about as we continue to bring our businesses together," he said.
The US$8.2 billion acquisition received unconditional approval from the European Commission, which ruled that NYSE Euronext and ICE were not direct competitors and would continue to face competition from a number of other businesses in their markets.
ICE has already signaled its intention to offload the Euronext portion of the business, which operates exchanges in Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels and Lisbon.
Sprecher has previously signaled that ICE is planning an IPO for Euronext, though there have been rumours it is running a dual-track sales process, with some private equity funds thought to be interested in acquiring Euronext.