US Department of Justice set to wave through ICAP-Tullett deal
The US Department of Justice has given a nod of approval to interdealer Tullett Prebon’s revised takeover of ICAP’s voice-broking and information business.
Under the $1.5bn (£1.1bn) deal’s original structure, ICAP would have owned 19.9 per cent of Tullett Prebon and also had the right to nominate a member of Tullett Prebon’s board of directors, despite still being competitors.
"The revised agreement will provide that ICAP will not own any part of Tullett Prebon after the transaction and will have no right to nominate a member of Tullett Prebon's board of directors," the justice department said in a statement. The antitrust authority will still need to give formal approval at a later date.
ICAP said in a trading update on Wednesday that the deal, announced last November, was on track to complete later this year.
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In late June, the two brokers proposed a sale of ICAP’s London-based oil trading desks to avoid an antitrust probe by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA has previously said it was concerned about "a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition for the voice/hybrid broking of oil products where competition from other brokers is more limited, there is a lesser constraint from electronic platforms and exchanges, and the CMA received a number of third party concerns".