The world's largest energy market, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), is exploring a sale to NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Boerse AG or Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc (CME), two people involved in the discussions said.
NYMEX Holdings Inc may be valued at US$155 a share or US$14.3 billion, 11 percent more than Thursday's closing price, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. Top NYMEX executives have met with their counterparts at the three suitors, the people said. NYMEX's board has been informed of the discussions.
NYMEX shares climbed to a record. The stock, dismissed earlier this year by analysts as overvalued, has surged on speculation about a sale. Exchanges worldwide are combining so they can offer customers more products in one place. The growth of electronic trading has broken down barriers among national markets. NYMEX does not have its own electronic futures trading and pays to use the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's system.
"What this does is speak to how size is extremely important to being competitive," said Mark Williams, a finance professor at Boston University. "The derivatives market in general has really exploded in part because trade is becoming more global."
In April, NYSE Group Inc bought Euronext NV for US$14.6 billion and Frankfurt-based Deutsche Boerse agreed to buy New York-based International Securities Exchange for US$2.8 billion.
Deutsche Boerse, NYSE Euronext and NYMEX declined to comment. Chicago Mercantile Exchange said in a statement yesterday that it "is not currently in any discussion with NYMEX regarding a merger or acquisition" and is focused on completing its purchase of the Chicago Board of Trade.
The Board of Trade has agreed to sell to its crosstown rival for US$ 10.2 billion and has spurned an unsolicited US$11.1 billion offer from Intercontinental Exchange Inc. In January, Atlanta-based Intercontinental, the biggest competitor to NYMEX in the trading of benchmark oil and fuel contracts, completed a US$1.8 billion purchase of the New York Board of Trade, which trades sugar and cocoa futures.
Bankers have not yet been hired to advise NYMEX on the possible sale, the people said. The discussions are likely to accelerate after July 9, when shareholders of the Chicago Board of Trade vote on a proposed acquisition by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, they said.
NYMEX shares gained 13 percent this week. They rose US$2.32 to close at US$142.12 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Deutsche Boerse shares rose 3.31 euros to 88.44 euros in Frankfurt. NYSE Euronext fell US$0.80 to US$80 in New York.
The June 11 decision by US Justice Department antitrust regulators to allow the proposed merger of the Chicago Merc and Chicago Board of Trade helped boost NYMEX shares, Williams said.
If the government doesn't object to combining the Chicago exchanges, which together control more than 95 percent of exchange-traded US futures based on interest rates and stock indexes, it probably won't find fault with a sale of the NYMEX, Williams said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last