Under the counter

And so we reach the end – hopefully – of the most predictable takeover battle since they turned my local pub into a coffee shop; my astonishment quite literally knew many bounds when I heard CME had won the bidding war for CBoT and I imagine you were equally stunned yourselves. I’m not saying that CME’s bid, in the end, wasn’t the best one on the table or that the Merc won’t make a superb parent for its neighbour (although perhaps I should say a superb partner for its neighbour as I notice CME is sticking to the rather amusing party line that the move is a “merger” rather than a takeover). However, I can’t help but wonder whether there was anyone out there who believed for more than about 15 seconds that ICE, despite the ambition and audacity of its bid,...