On Tuesday, the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) announced the closing?of the IPO of the ordinary shares of Euronext N.V., the pan-European exchange group. Euronext?s ordinary shares are listed under the symbol ?ENX? on Euronext Paris, Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels and commenced trading on June 20, 2014.
ICE, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, sold 42,248,881 ordinary shares of Euronext in the IPO at ?20 per share, 23,352,000 ordinary shares of Euronext to a group of European institutional investors that will replace ICE as reference shareholders at ?19.20 per share and 188,296 ordinary shares of Euronext to eligible Euronext employees at ?16 per share, according to its press release.
ICE has granted the underwriters an over-allotment option of up to 4,210,823 ordinary shares of Euronext, which can be exercised for 30 days after the first trade date. Therefore, ICE may continue to hold up to 4,210,823 of the 70,000,000 total issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Euronext if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full. Any shares that are continued to be held by ICE will be subject to a 180-day lockup period. If the over-allotment is exercised in full, the IPO and reference shareholder transaction will represent 100% of the total issued ordinary share capital of Euronext.
Upon the settlement of the IPO transaction, ICE will receive approximately ?1.4 billion in cash proceeds, including net cash from Euronext as part of the separation of the business, and excluding the over-allotment option of 4.2 million shares, and net of the share price discounts offered to employees and the reference shareholder group, as well as ICE?s estimated transaction fees.
Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange said of the IPO, ?Our goal from the inception of the acquisition of NYSE Euronext was to establish Euronext as an independent exchange via a public listing. The proceeds will enable us to repay debt, invest for growth and return capital to shareholders. We are pleased to have executed on our plan and are now focused on our strategic initiatives, which include further integrating ICE and Liffe, expanding our clearing capabilities and delivering on our synergy targets.?
For the second quarter of 2014, ICE expects to include Euronext results in discontinued operations and expects to report operating earnings per share (EPS) excluding discontinued operations. ICE also expects to provide GAAP EPS including discontinued operations.