Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is buying Trayport, a trading technology firm focused on the European energy markets, from BGC Partners for $650 million in stock.
Interdealer broker BGC acquired Trayport earlier this year when it bought the latter's parent, GFI Group, for $750 million.
The deal gives ICE a stronghold in the European OTC energy markets, including power, natural gas and coal. The firm says that it will also use its new acquisition to tap into the developing Asian markets.
Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman and CEO, ICE, says: "European regulators have made clear that they do not expect OTC gas and power markets to be subject to the mandatory clearing provisions that are being applied to other commodity markets. As such, these vital markets will require continued investment as part of the European energy market evolution. In addition, with ICE’s experience in managing secure technology, we are well positioned to support the continued development of these systems."
Last summer ICE-rival CME Group agreed to acquire Trayport as well as the Fenics trading technology business from GFI Group for around $655 million. However, the deal fell apart thanks to a lack of shareholder support.
ICE has now swooped in, adding to a raft of recent acquisitions. Only last month it agreed to pay $5.2 billion for Interactive Data, following on from deals for SuperDerivatives, Algo Technologies and the New York Stock Exchange.
The Trayport deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of both firms and is slated to close in the first quarter of 2016, subject to regulatory approval.