CHICAGO (AP) - The head of the Chicago Board of Trade said Thursday that the commodities exchange still supports a buyout proposal from its cross-town rival, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
CBOT President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Dan told investors he believed federal regulators would complete their review of the proposed takeover by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. before shareholders from each company vote on the buyout July 9.
Dan said CBOT, owned by CBOT Holdings Inc., continued to favor a $9.8 billion CME offer over a competing $11.2 billion bid from Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange Inc. The value of each offer changes daily based on fluctuations in each company's stock price.
Speaking at Sandler O'Neill eBrokerage and Global Exchange Conference in New York, Dan said executives evaluated each proposal on the value it would provide in the short, middle and long term.
'In combining CME and the Board of Trade, a huge advantage is that we expect to be able to integrate our companies quickly and efficiently,' Dan said.
CME Chief Executive Officer Craig Donohue said he remained confident about his company's status as a front-runner in the fight for CBOT, and said trading floors for the two exchanges would be combined by the second quarter of 2008.
'Have you seen us try to do something and not accomplish it?' he said, speaking at a later presentation Thursday. 'We're very committed to the merger and very confident that we'll be successful in doing it.'
But investors have raised antitrust concerns, saying regulators would be more amenable to a CBOT-ICE combination.
A company that combines the CME and CBOT would control 85 percent of the U.S. market for exchange-traded futures contracts, while a ICE-CBOT deal would account for about one-third.
ICE founder Jeffrey Sprecher said he still believes the Atlanta-based derivatives exchange could absorb CBOT, despite doubt cast by CME on capability.
'We have a proven track record of integrating new business while supporting their growth,' he said.
CBOT shares fell 41 cents to $198.71 Thursday while CME shares dropped $2.93 to $539.47.
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