The Rosario Futures Exchange (ROFEX) and the Mercado a Termino de Buenos Aires (MATba) have received approval from shareholders to merge in a single futures Exchange in the Argentine Republic.
With the necessary approval secured, the two exchanges can now complete the merging process, which started two years ago. According to the statement, the two exchanges are expected to be completely merged by May of 2019.
ROFEX is a futures exchange in Argentina for commodities and other financial products such as exchange and interest rate options. MATba, on the other hand, is a Buenos Aires Futures and Options Exchange.
According to the statement released on Wednesday, MATba held an extraordinary meeting, where almost 80 percent of shareholders were in attendance. At the meeting, the Merger was voted upon, and 67.55 percent votes came in favor of the merger.
Before this, ROFEX held a similar meeting on December 11, 2018. During the meeting shareholders voted almost unanimously for the merge, with an 80 percent attendance record, the statement said.
Bolstering Argentina's Capital Markets
Andrés Ponte
Source: ROFEX
The Chairman of ROFEX, Andrés Ponte, said that the merger represents a historical step: “This is great news within a difficult national situation. We have managed to integrate two cultures in order to boost the Argentinian capitals market.”
Nicholson & Cano Abogados acted as the legal consultants during this process. Working as the financial consults during the deal was Columbus MB S.A.
Once the two exchanges are combined, Andrés Ponte, the current chairman of ROFEX will remain as the chairman of the new entity. Marcos Hermansson, the current Chairman at MATba, will become the Vice-Chairman of the entity. Luis Alberto Herrera will be the Treasurer.
Following the extraordinary meeting, Hermansson expressed his gratitude to shareholders, emphasizing the importance of this decision to develop a futures exchange in the Argentine Republic.
