Mergers and Acquisitions
In 2006, CME purchased "Swapstream", an interest rate swaps electronic trading platform, based in London.
On October 17, 2006, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced the purchase of the Chicago Board of Trade for $8 billion in stock, rejoining the two financial institutions as CME Group, Inc. CBOT formerly used outsourced technology platforms but has moved over to CME's Globex trading system. This will provide much of the merger's anticipated savings. The merger will also strengthen the combined group's position in the global derivatives market. The merger agreement was modified on December 20, 2006, May 11, 2007, June 14, 2007, and on July 6, 2007. The merger agreement was passed by shareholders of both CME and the Chicago Board of Trade on July 9, 2007. The merger officially closed on July 12, 2007, after which the Chicago Board of Trade shares (old symbol: BOT) stopped trading and were converted into CME shares as agreed, and the overarching holding company began life as CME Group, a CME/Chicago Board of Trade Company. On January 13, 2008 electronic trading at the Chicago Board of Trade shifted onto the Mercantile Exchange's computer system.
On March 17, 2008, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) accepted an offer from CME Group, the parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to purchase NYMEX for $8.9 billion in cash and CME Group Stock. The acquisition was formally completed on August 22, 2008, and the NYMEX systems were fully integrated by September 30, 2009.
Read more about this topic: Chicago Mercantile Exchange