Chicago Board of Trade 2.jpgWith a shareholder vote on Monday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange increased its bid for the Chicago Board of Trade again today, all but securing a deal set to create the largest derivatives exchange in the world.
The new Merc bid is valued at $11.3bn, still short of the rival $11.4bn offer from the Atlanta based IntercontinentalExchange, but enough to win the support of Caledonia Investments, a major CBOT shareholder that previously resisted the Merc’s advances. The CBOT board has favored the cross-town merger since talks began last October and both CBOT and CME believe enough shareholder support now exists to push the deal through.
Unable to take a hint, ICE sent a letter to top CBOT officials on Tuesday saying it would consider sweetening its bid, the Wall Street Journal reports. Nonetheless, expect a new Chicago superexchange to come into being on Monday.

CME Sweetens CBOT Bid Ahead of Next Week’s Vote
[Wall Street Journal]

Comments (9)

  1. Posted by Anonymous | July 6, 2007 at 12:33 PM

    Who are the Chicago equivalent of the Vinnys? I bet they’re happy.

  2. Posted by PTRADES | July 6, 2007 at 12:36 PM

    futures is where the action is, leverage, leverage, leverage, yes, we have our vinnys in chi-town too

  3. Posted by RandomGirl | July 6, 2007 at 12:49 PM

    What a disaster. ICE would run a better, more professional organization. If CME and CBOT merge, it’s going to be the same good ole’ boys club of undereducated, overweight, burly trader-cavemen. Those days are dying and need to be put out of their misery ASAP: the new (ivy-league educated, slightly nerdy) traders are coming in.

  4. Posted by jt | July 6, 2007 at 12:58 PM

    not all (slightly nerdy) traders are ivy-league educated my blue-blooded friend

  5. Posted by anon | July 6, 2007 at 1:12 PM

    Vinnys are not being replaced, they are being disintermediated.

  6. Posted by Anonymous | July 6, 2007 at 1:36 PM

    i thought they are all irish up there. the Ryans

  7. Posted by chi-monster | July 6, 2007 at 1:38 PM

    Yes, there are many irish papists here

  8. Posted by PTRADES | July 6, 2007 at 2:06 PM

    or…made redundant

  9. Posted by jt | July 6, 2007 at 3:06 PM

    Im taking it with a grain of salt (very small one at that) but a few people on wsj Deal Journal seem to think that ICE sucks (presumably they aren’t shareholders) for various reasons. Anyone have any insight?

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