–‘Important Regulatory Milestone’
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following was issued Thursday By Deutsche
Boerse after the U.S. Department of Justice announced its required
divestiture of a minority stake in Direct Edge to gain U.S. approval for
a merger with the New York Stock Exchange. (Market News International is
wholly owned by Deutsche Boerse. European regulators are expected to
decide on the merger as soon as early February. The NYSE did not
immediately comment.)
U.S. Department of Justice approves Deutsche Brse and NYSE
Euronext merger ISE to sell Direct Edge stake as a condition of approval
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today approved the merger of
Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext. This represents an important
regulatory milestone for the merger. The DOJ’s clearance was contingent
upon the International Securities Exchange (ISE) agreeing to sell its
31.5 percent stake in Direct
Edge, a U.S. stock exchange. Until completing the divestiture,
ISE’s ownership in Direct Edge will be held passively.
ISE is 100 percent owned by Eurex, which is the derivatives
exchange of Deutsche Boerse. ISE partnered with Direct Edge in late 2008
when the ISE equity market operations (known as ISE Stock Exchange)
became a wholly owned subsidiary of Direct Edge. In return, ISE gained a
minority stake in Direct Edge.
The merger of Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext is subject to
further closing conditions. The approval by the EU Commission is still
outstanding. The EU Commission has announced to make a final decision by
no later than February 9, 2012. Further approvals by the relevant
national stock exchange supervisory authorities are also outstanding.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,M$X$$$,MI$$$$,MAUDS$,M$G$$$,M$$EC$]
