New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) was expected to approve a plan to take on Blackstone Group as an equity partner and push ahead with an initial public offering last week, FO Week has learned.
Sources said Blackstone will take a 20% equity stake in the exchange, the value of which was still being calculated. FO Week also learned that exchange executives inked contracts last week with investment banks Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan to handle the deal and IPO.
The deal was expected to be approved at a board of directors meeting last Thursday, after press time. The move was not unexpected for Nymex. The...