Brussels, 24/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 24 June, the European Commission gave official approval to the acquisition of NYSE Euronext (NYX) by InterContinental Exchange (ICE), both of which provide trading and clearing services, particularly for derivatives.
The Commission's investigation found that the deal would not raise competition concerns as NYX and ICE are not direct competitors in the markets concerned and would continue to face competition from a number of other competitors. The Commission examined in particular the effects of the proposed acquisition on competition in the markets for the provision of trading and clearing services for certain exchange traded derivatives (ETDs), in particular agricultural (canola and rapeseed) and soft commodities (cocoa, coffee, sugar) derivatives and US equity index derivatives. The Commission's investigation found that the proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns in any of these fields, as NYX and ICE are offering contracts belonging to different product markets so their activities do not overlap. Moreover, the market investigation revealed that they do not exert a greater potential competitive threat on each other compared to other exchanges. In 2012, the Commission banned a merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext (see EUROPE 10544). (MB/transl.fl)