Intercontinental Exchange exits stake in Euronext with share sale
INTERCONTINENTAL Exchange (ICE) yesterday announced it was selling its final stake in Euronext, pricing the placement of 4.2m shares.
The shares, representing approximately six per cent of Euronext’s share capital, are to be sold by way of an accelerated book-building to institutional investors, at a price of €23 each.
ICE said it expected the gross proceeds from the sale to amount to €96.8m. The sale is expected to close on Thursday.
ICE stated that, following the sale, it “will no longer hold any of Euronext’s shares or voting rights. This transaction marks the final exit from Euronext by ICE initiated in 2014.” Both the NYSE and Euronext, the operator of stock markets in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, came under ICE’s control after it paid $8.2bn for NYSE Euronext in late 2012.
ICE chief executive Jeffrey Sprecher has always maintained he would like to keep hold of the New York Stock Exchange as well as the London-based Liffe derivatives business and its IT platform.
But he said: “Euronext, as a leader in Europe, should operate independently and in the interests of its customers and local economies.”
ABN AMRO, JP Morgan and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking acted as joint bookrunners on the deal.