CME Group (NYSE: CME)(NASDAQ: CME) , the largest and most diverse derivatives exchange and leading provider of equity index futures and options, and The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ), today announced they will expand their highly successful long-term partnership through two new initiatives.
First, the NASDAQ OMX Group will extend CME Group’s exclusive rights to offer futures and options on futures contracts based on NASDAQ indices, for an additional seven-year period, through 2019. This agreement, which would have expired in 2012, further strengthens the longstanding partnership between these two industry-leading exchanges that began in 1996. CME Group today offers a number of NASDAQ-related futures and options contracts, including the NASDAQ-100 and E-miniTM NASDAQ 100; NASDAQ Composite and NASDAQ Biotechnology, with average daily volumes of approximately 490,000 and a compounded annual growth rate during the last 10 years of 61 percent.
Second, CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved the decision to single list its common stock on The NASDAQ Global Select. The ticker symbol will remain CME.
"For more than a decade, CME Group and NASDAQ have enjoyed a strong relationship," said CME group executive chairman Terry Duffy. "Together, we have been able to provide a series of significant and innovative hedging and risk management tools to the marketplace, benefiting CME Group customers and creating new value for the shareholders of both organizations. We are pleased to further extend this productive partnership with this exclusive agreement. Furthermore, after evaluating the trading of our stock and leveraging NASDAQ’s corporate services, we believe that single listing on The NASDAQ Stock Market recognizes the value and importance of our relationship."
"The expansion of the long-term partnership between CME Group and The NASDAQ OMX Group reflects how well our two organizations work together to create value in our respective core businesses," said CME chief executive officer Craig Donohue. "Today’s seven-year extension of CME Group’s exclusive license rights further strengthens our long-term growth prospects and earnings potential in the equity derivatives market, where we also have long-term exclusive rights to offer futures and options on futures contracts based on S&P Indices through 2016, and on Dow Jones Indices until 2014. Additionally, our decision to single list on NASDAQ recognizes the extraordinary success that NASDAQ has achieved in becoming the leading market center for trading in CME Group shares since CME Group first dual listed on both NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange on May 2, 2005. We look forward to leveraging our partnership for the benefit of our customers and shareholders."
