The rumour mill continued to swirl at New York Board of Trade (Nybot) last week as executives tried to calm frayed nerves regarding talk of a potential takeover by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), members fearing such a tie-up would lead to a loss of its floor trading.
Talk of a takeover, believed to value Nybot at around $900m, prompted Nybot chairman Fred Schoenhut to issue a memo to members saying that management had been looking into all options available but that nothing had been presented yet.
The exchange was also known to have hired Brown Brothers to help assist it in looking at any possible mergers or acquisitions. Meanwhile, market observers were weighing up the pros and cons and reasons behind a possible takeover.
The perception in the market was that ICE could...