ICE Announces Expected Closing for Acquisition of SPSE and CMA Assets

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), an operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data, has announced that following US Department of Justice clearance, it will close its acquisition of S&P Global’s Securities Evaluations (SPSE) and Credit Market Analysis (CMA), two assets within the S&P Global Market Intelligence division.

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ICE is expecting to fund the purchase price with cash and the transaction is expected to close in October 2016, at which time SPSE and CMA will become part of ICE Data Services.

New Data and Valuation Services

ICE announced its intent to acquire the companies on 1 March, 2016, with the objective of offering its customers around the world new data and valuation services.

Lynn Martin, President and Chief Operating Officer of ICE Data Services, said: “We believe this transaction will support ICE Data Services’ strong commitment to drive innovation and best-in-class service to meet our customers’ growing data needs.”

Trayport

As reported by Finance Magnates, ICE also made the news yesterday when Britain’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, expressed its concern over the exchange’s recent $650 million acquisition of commodities trading software house, Trayport.

The CMA said that ICE could use its ownership of Trayport’s software to raise prices and/or reduce the quality of its service to rival exchanges to divert its rivals’ trades to ICE’s own exchange and Clearing House . A final ruling on the merger is expected by 18 October, 2016.