LONDON and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the
world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and Oman
Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of
Oman, today announced that they
will increase their investments in the Dubai Mercantile Exchange to
enable it to continue growing its business.
As part of the restructuring of the DME's equity shareholding, a
recapitalization arrangement will increase the stake in DME held by
CME Group's NYMEX division from 25 percent to 50 percent.
Oman Investment Fund will increase its holding to 29 percent; a
subsidiary of Dubai Holding will retain 9 percent; and 12 percent
will be held on a non-voting basis by strategic investors,
including Vitol, Shell, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs
and Concord Energy.
Bryan Durkin, CME Group Chief
Operating Officer and Managing Director, Products and Services,
said: "The deepening of our relationship with DME further serves
our strategy of providing risk managers and investors with access
to key benchmark products via our global distribution
networks. By committing CME Group's resources and know-how to
DME's increasingly well-received product set, participants in the
Middle East and Asia will be able to access transparent
pricing and risk management products as global energy markets focus
ever further eastward."
Hassan Al Nabhani, Chief
Executive Officer of Oman Investment Fund, said: "DME's development
into a prominent venue for price discovery will prove to be of
significant strategic and financial value for the oil markets. The
exchange continues to attract customers from among the key
participants in the global energy industry. Our long-standing
partnership with CME Group, the world's leading derivatives
marketplace, is building the platform for the next phase in DME's
development."
Ahmad Bin Byat, Chief Executive
Officer of Dubai Holding, said: "Our partners' increased investment
in the DME is a vote of confidence in the future growth of the
exchange. Today's announcement marks a new phase in the
development of the DME and we look forward to building on the real
progress which has been made to date."
Ahmad Sharaf, Chairman of the
DME, said: "We welcome the continued commitment of our partners.
With liquidity in the flagship Oman crude oil futures contract steadily
growing and physical delivery reaching new heights in 2011, this
recapitalization positions the DME to enter the next phase of
development for existing and future customers seeking to manage
price risk for crude oil markets East of Suez."
To build on the success of the partnership to date, the new
arrangement puts a robust plan in place to grow the business and
ensure that it continues to deliver value to its customers and
investors. With the injection of new funds, the DME will
retain its independence while benefiting from technology updates,
product development support, technical services and CME Group's
skills and expertise in developing global markets.
In 2011, the DME delivered more than 145 million barrels of
crude oil – a year-on-year trading volume growth of 19%.
Average Daily Volume (ADV) rose to 3,505 contracts, peaking at
4,427 in July, representing the highest monthly ADV since the DME
began trading in 2007. New records in total volume were also set in
consecutive months during July and August, the latter seeing 95,440
contracts traded. Physical delivery of the DME Oman contract
also grew through 2011, with an average of 12.115 million barrels
of crude oil delivered each month and a new monthly record of 15.4
million barrels set in September.
About the CME Group
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.
About Oman Investment Fund
Oman Investment Fund is a sovereign wealth fund of the
Government of Oman. Founded in
2006, the fund focuses on investments in medium and long term
projects in the private equity and real estate. The fund is based
in Muscat, Oman and has a global
investment mandate.
About Dubai Holding
Dubai Holding develops and manages an extensive portfolio of
financial and real estate assets throughout the world.
Dubai Holding manages two business groups:
Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHIG), develops and
manages world-class commercial and residential real estate and
hospitality investments through four operating units; TECOM
Investments, Dubai Property Group, Jumeirah Group and Emirates
International Telecommunications.
Dubai Holding Investment Group (DHIG) includes diversified
financial services offerings, banking, insurance and private
equity. DHIG's operating units are Dubai Group and Dubai
International Capital.
For more information on Dubai Holding, please visit
www.dubaiholding.com
About the Dubai Mercantile Exchange
The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) is the premier
international energy futures and commodities exchange in the
Middle East, providing a
financially secure, well-regulated and transparent trading
environment. The DME is majority owned by core shareholders CME
Group, the Oman Investment Fund (OIF), and Dubai Holding). Global
financial institutions and energy trading firms such as Goldman
Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Shell, Vitol and Concord Energy
have taken equity stakes in the DME, providing the exchange with a
resounding vote of confidence by major players in global energy
markets.
The exchange has developed and trades the DME Oman Crude Oil
Futures Contract, addressing the growing market need for price
discovery of sour crude oil destined for East of Suez markets,
while simultaneously bridging the time-zone gap between
Europe and Asia. Launched in
June 2007, DME Oman is the largest
physically delivered crude oil futures contract in the world.
The DME is a fully electronic exchange, and its contracts are
listed on the CME Globex® platform, the world's leading electronic
trading platform, providing access to the broadest array of futures
and options products available on any exchange. The DME is
regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and all
trades executed on the exchange are cleared through and guaranteed
by NYMEX (a member of CME Group), which is regulated by the U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a
Recognized Body by the DFSA.
For the latest trading volumes on the DME, please visit:
www.dubaimerc.com
Historical DME trading data can be found at:
www.dubaimerc.com/historical.aspx
To register for daily updates, please visit:
www.dubaimerc.com/daily_updates_reg.asp
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. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ:
CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.
CME-G
SOURCE CME Group