CME makes offer for Nymex

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has confirmed that it has made an offer for the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).

The parties have agreed to a 30 day exclusive negotiating period. Under the terms being discussed, shareholders of Nymex would receive $36 in cash and 0.1323 of a share of CME Group's common stock (the exchange ratio), in exchange for each Nymex share.

In a statement, the CME Group said that it expected to maintain trading floors in the New York City metropolitan area.

Under the terms of the initial offer, Nymex would also repurchase the 816 New York Mercantile Exchange memberships upon closing of the potential acquisition for an aggregate purchase price not to exceed $500 million.

With discussions in preliminary stages, both parties have noted that any potential transaction may be materially different from what is currently being discussed and that it remains subject to completion of due diligence, negotiation of terms of a definitive agreement and approvals of the Boards of Directors of both companies.

Trade agreements between both exchanges are already in place with many Nymex products listed on CMEGlobex, the CME’s electronic trading platform.