Analysts who follow the two largest US futures marts are braced for word within days that CME Group has finalised terms of a deal to swallow New York Mercantile Exchange parent NYMEX Holdings Inc. "Most people feel pretty comfortable that it will go through," Daniel Harris, analyst at Goldman Sachs, said.
While speaking on a panel at the Futures Industry Association meeting in Boca Raton, Florida. "The deal is probably moving on the path toward an announcement." The companies have set March 15 as the deadline for an exclusive negotiating period. That has heightened prospects for an announcement early next week, if not before.
A deal would need approval from the US Department of Justice, which recently has shown some queasiness about CME Group's commanding position in the futures industry. CME Group was formed in 2007 by the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade.
It dominates trading in financial futures, grains and livestock. The acquisition of NYMEX would add energy and precious metals contracts to the mix. In February, the DOJ called for a shake-up in financial futures exchanges, including an end to exchanges owning or controlling the lucrative business of clearing trades.