Analysts expect shareholders of CME Group Inc. and Nymex Holdings Inc., parent of the New York Mercantile Exchange, to approve the planned acquisition today.
“I expect CME to obtain the required 75% quorum from the Nymex members and the majority of the CME and Nymex shareholders’ votes,” said analyst Diego Perfumo at consultant Equity Research Desk.
Results are expected sometime after the 4 p.m. EDT market close. The actual acquisition would close Friday. Nymex is the world’s largest energy futures market and Chicago-based CME is the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange.
CME’s stock-and-cash offer is currently valued at $7.65 billion, a minute premium over Nymex’s $7.59 billion market value and $3.6 billion less than when the offer was first announced Jan. 28. Both stocks have sold off in recent months — the CME is down 50% while Nymex shares have fallen 41% year to date.
Approval by a simple majority of shareholders of both exchanges plus three-quarters of the 816 Nymex members is needed to close the deal. To sway theNymex members, CME has upped its offer to $750,000 per member, from $612,000 originally. CME will also pay a special $350 million dividend to all shareholders after the deal closes.
