CHICAGO, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group Inc.
(Nasdaq: CME) today announced that its board of directors has
authorized a return of capital to shareholders through a share
buyback program of up to $750 million
of CME Group Class A common stock, subject to market conditions.
The buyback program will take place over a period of up to 12
months.
"CME Group is strongly committed to driving growth, and this
share buyback program underscores our continued belief and optimism
in CME Group's long-term growth prospects," said Chief Financial
Officer Jamie Parisi. "We have
reached the debt and cash levels outlined in our capital structure
guiding principles and remain well positioned to continue to invest
in multiple organic growth avenues, while also returning excess
capital to shareholders."
Under SEC rules, CME Group will not be able to repurchase shares
during certain restricted time periods. The share repurchase plan
does not obligate CME Group to repurchase any specific dollar
amount or number of shares of its Class A common stock. CME Group
intends to conduct any such repurchases in compliance with the
applicable provisions of Rules 10b-5 and 10b-18 and Regulation M of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and any other
applicable laws and regulations.
As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace,
CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage
risk. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global
benchmark products across all major asset classes, including
futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes,
foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather
and real estate. CME Group brings buyers and sellers together
through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform and its trading
facilities in New York and
Chicago. CME Group also operates
CME Clearing, one of the world's leading central counterparty
clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services
for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for over-the-counter
derivatives transactions through CME ClearPort®. These products and
services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially
mitigate counterparty credit risk in both listed and
over-the-counter derivatives markets.
CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME,
Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago
Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the
Board of Trade of the City of
Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and
ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile
Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as
that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current
expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause
results to differ materially from those set forth in the
statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and
actual results may differ materially from those projected. We
undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this press release
should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that
affect CME Group's business, particularly those mentioned in the
risk factors and cautionary statements in CME Group's most recent
periodic reports.
CME-G
SOURCE CME Group