By Jacob Bunge
The last time the New York Stock Exchange parent NYSE Euronext
(NYX) entertained a suitor, it helped spark a wave of exchange
deals and counter-offers that, in general, amounted to little. Will
the talks between NYSE and ICE draw in a rival bidder for the Big
Board? Here's a look at the sector's biggest companies and
consolidators:
CME Group Inc. (CME): The world's largest futures exchange
operator, which has long worked to expand overseas, considered
jumping into the chase for NYSE Euronext's London futures franchise
after the Big Board parent in 2011 announced its intention to merge
with Germany's Deutsche Boerse (DBOEF, DB1.XE), according to people
with knowledge of the discussions.
CME ultimately held back from joining with Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
(NDAQ) in such an effort over concerns--later justified--that U.S.
antitrust authorities wouldn't let Nasdaq OMX take over NYSE's
stock markets.
CME has the heft to make a solo play for NYSE, but taking on the
securities franchise would mean plunging into a hyper-competitive
business and regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission,
a road CME has sought to avoid.
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (0388.HK): The Asian
titan of the exchange industry, boasting the sector's largest
valuation worldwide, for years steered clear of M&A, instead
preferring to focus its efforts on laying groundwork to capitalize
on listings and trade from the slowly opening Chinese economy.
That changed this year when, faced with slowing activity on its
markets, HKEX trumped ICE, CME and NYSE to acquire the London Metal
Exchange--veering from both its own aversion to deal making and
prior focus on Asia. Owning NYSE would elevate HKEX's ambitions to
lead in listings, but would likely draw fire from U.S. politicians
wary of selling a touchstone of American capitalism to a
foreign-based competitor.
Singapore Exchange Ltd. (S68.SG): SGX CEO Magnus Bocker, a
onetime number-two at Nasdaq OMX, knows the stock-trading business
and a thing or two about exchange mergers, navigating consolidation
of Nordic markets before striking a deal to sell the finished
product to Nasdaq in 2007.
But Mr. Bocker also knows how deals can go wrong, with SGX's
high-profile takeover of Australian exchange operator ASX Ltd.
(ASX.AU) nixed by Aussie authorities in 2011, the first in a crop
of blocked tie-ups. Mr. Bocker since then has professed a focus on
organic growth in Asia.
Nasdaq OMX: NYSE's archrival faces the prospect of watching the
Big Board trade from the sidelines this time, after the U.S.
Department of Justice in 2011 ruled that the technology-centric
exchange's proposed takeover of its larger rival would create a
monopoly over stock-listings and related services in the U.S.
That doesn't mean, though, that Nasdaq OMX--whose CEO Bob
Greifeld developed a relationship with ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher
during the doomed takeover attempt of NYSE--couldn't have his eye
on NYSE's European stock-market businesses, which the combined
company has said it may spin off.
Deutsche Boerse: The European Union in February ruled against
the keystone of the planned NYSE-Deutsche Boerse merger, the
combination of the two companies' interest-rate futures franchise,
and as a result the companies abandoned their combination rather
than proceed without the deal's core.
Though Deutsche Boerse has challenged the EU view in court,
executives have disavowed any plan to resurrect a deal with NYSE.
However, the German exchange heavy could be interested in any
European businesses hived off in an ICE-NYSE tie-up.
London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE.LN): The LSE led off the
2011 wave of exchange deals with an [unsuccessful] plan to merge
with Canada's TMX Group Ltd. (X.T), and after that deal fell
through LSE Chief Xavier Rolet settled for an acquisition of
London-based clearinghouse operator LCH.Clearnet, which elevated
the LSE to the tier of exchanges that own their own
trade-processing facilities.
Likely too small to mount a solo push for NYSE, LSE remains
locked in negotiations to close and integrate its LCH deal--which
have lately been complicated by regulators.
Write to Jacob Bunge@Jacob.Bunge@dowjones.com