Nasdaq OMX and Intercontinental Exchange have made a joint proposal to acquireNYSEEuronext for about $11.3 billion, $42.50 in cash and stock per NYSE Euronext share, which is a 19 percent premium over the proposedDeutsche Boerse takeover bid in Febuary.
CNBC
Jefferey Sprecher
"If they [NYSE] really need scale and if they really needed to take costs out, we're probably the better partners," Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman and CEO of ICE, told CNBC on Friday. "There was just an opportunity that was presented to us by the marketplace and Bob Greifeld [CEO of Nasdaq] and I decided to act on it," Sprechler said.
"We do have financing in place, we just simply haven't signed the financing commitment letters. But if the board of the NYSE would like us to do that, if that would bring them to the table, we certainly could do that almost immediately," added Sprecher.
Two separate stocks, NDX and ICE, are being used for the over-the-top bid, which reflects what has happened in the exchange world, he explained: "The way investors are looking at these businesses as a sum-of-the-parts, and they look at stock-trading businesses differently then stock options, and differently than the derivatives piece."
"So, that's how share price is being built up. We decided to simply unlock that and say, 'would you like to own the leading stock and stock options business along with one of the fastest growing (if not the fastest growing) derivatives business in the form of new equity?'"
In addition, he went on to say that the listing business is highly regulated, and therefore mergers can happen quite easily. "There is no opportunity to use monopoly power in the US listing business without the consent of government."
But, he pointed out that he wasn't sure where this bid will go and how the other side will react to it.
"I am very proud of what we've been able to offer—a significant increase over the bid that's on the table right now," Sprecher concluded.
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