CME AND NYMEX IN TALKS

According to published reports, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) are in talks about an $11 billion merger that would create a giant energy trading marketplace.

From The New York Times:

In what the two said was a 30-day exclusive negotiating period, the firms said they are discussing a takeover of Nymex by CME. The Chicago exchange would pay $36 in cash and .1323 in CME stock per Nymex share, or about $119.22 based on Friday’s closing price. That represents an 11 percent premium over Nymex’s closing share price Friday of $107.16.

CME will keep Nymex’s trading floors in lower Manhattan and would buy back the exchange’s 816 memberships for a maximum of $500 million.

Both exchanges said that the discussions are early and that any final deal may differ from those terms.