On Thursday last week electronic commodities trading platform InterContinental Exchange made a hostile bid for the parent company of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). The price values CBOT at around $10 billion.
ICE has made its bid for CBOT Holdings as competitor Chicago Mercantile Holdings Inc. (CME) attempt to close the purchase of CBOT, scheduled for 4 April.
The proposed CME-CBOT combination has been criticised. Trade association The Futures Industry Association has said that deal would create an entity that could wield unfair pricing power.
“Unlike a combination of CME and CBOT, ICE believes no significant anti-trust or other regulatory risks exist in a combination of ICE and CBOT and a transaction could be completed quickly, thereby delivering both near-term and long-term benefits to all stakeholders of both ICE and CBOT,” says ICE in a statement.
Specifically, ICE said it thinks a deal could close in the third quarter of this year. It acquired the New York Board of Trade earlier this year.