The early signs of a bidding war over the asking price and value of Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) has started up with all eyes on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to usurp Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)'s surprise $9.4bn bid.
CBoT shareholders are now waiting to see just how much CME is willing to pony up now that ICE has upped the ante by more than $1bn with other incentives compared to CME's original $8bn bid back in October.
In the aftermath of ICE's dramatic bid for CBoT on 15 March (see FO Week Vol 12 No 11), CBoT shareholders are suddenly bargaining from a position of strength and expect CME to come in with a substantially higher offer.
"They better turn up with a Brinks truck," said one...