Intercontinental Exchange agreed to acquire electronic bond-trading platform MarketAxess Holdings for $167 a share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $6 billion, the companies said Thursday.
The purchase price represents a 33% premium over where MarketAxess shares finished trading on Wednesday
MarketAxess stock jumped roughly 28% before the opening bell Thursday, while ICE stock was up slightly. The total enterprise value of the deal is approximately $5.7 billion. ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, said the deal would unify the entire fixed-income trading lifecycle onto one platform, spanning price discovery and analytics before a trade through to electronic execution and compliance tools once it settles.
MarketAxess operates a network of roughly 2,100 institutional investors and broker-dealers spanning more than 90 countries, with instruments ranging from corporate and municipal bonds to emerging market debt, Eurobonds, and U.S. Treasuries. “Together, we will build the fixed-income ecosystem that investors have always deserved — one that is transparent, efficient, fully connected, and accessible to all,” ICE Chair and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Sprecher said in a statement. ICE said it will finance the deal entirely with newly issued debt, using a mix of bonds, a term loan, and commercial paper.