CME Group Secures $3.2 Billion in Financing from Bank of America and UBS to Finance Its Acquisition of NYMEX Holdings, Inc.
July 22 2008 - 8:34AM
PR Newswire (US)
Standard & Poor's assigns its 'AA' long-term counterparty
credit rating to CME Group CHICAGO, July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives
exchange, today announced it has obtained committed financing to
support its acquisition of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. The committed
financing takes the form of a $3.2 billion bridge financing
facility with Bank of America and UBS. In addition, Standard &
Poor's has assigned CME Group an "AA" rating on its long-term
counterparty credit rating, and S&P and Moody's reaffirmed the
company's short-term credit ratings of A-1+ and P-1, respectively.
These ratings take into account the effects of the NYMEX
transaction. "We are pleased to have secured committed bank
financing for our important NYMEX transaction," said CME Group
Chief Financial Officer Jamie Parisi. "Although general credit
market conditions remain weak, our ability to secure financing and
receive such a strong credit rating demonstrates market support of
our acquisition as well as confidence in our overall business
performance." The financing from Bank of America and UBS will be
equal with 50 percent ($1.6 billion) coming from each bank. CME
Group and NYMEX have previously announced that they expect their
pending transaction to close in the third quarter of 2008, subject
to NYMEX member and shareholder approval, CME Group shareholder
approval and customary closing conditions. NYMEX shareholders and
members and CME Group shareholders will vote on the transaction on
August 18, 2008. CME Group (http://www.cmegroup.com/) is the
world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange. Formed by
the 2007 merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), CME Group serves the risk management
needs of customers around the globe. As an international
marketplace, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together on the
CME Globex electronic trading platform and on its trading floors.
CME Group offers the widest range of benchmark products available
across all major asset classes, including futures and options based
on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural
commodities, and alternative investment products such as weather
and real estate. CME Group is traded NASDAQ under the symbol "CME."
The Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, Globex
and E- mini, are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.
CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of
Trade of the City of Chicago. Further information about CME Group
and its products can be found at http://www.cmegroup.com/.
Important Merger Information In connection with the merger
transaction involving CME Group and NYMEX Holdings, CME Group has
filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") on July 21, 2008 containing a final
joint proxy statement/prospectus. Investors and security holders
are urged to read the final prospectus/proxy statement and any
other such documents, when available, which will contain important
information about the proposed transaction. The final
prospectus/proxy statement and other documents filed or to be filed
by CME Group with the SEC are or will be available free of charge
at the SEC's Web site ( http://www.sec.gov/ ) or from CME Group
Inc., Attention: Shareholder Relations, 20 S. Wacker Drive,
Chicago, Illinois 60606, (312) 930-1000 or NYMEX Holdings, Inc.,
Attention: Investor Relations, at One North End Avenue, World
Financial Center, New York, New York 10282, (212) 299- 2000. CME
Group and NYMEX Holdings and their respective directors, executive
officers and other members of management and employees may be
deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from CME
Group and NYMEX Holdings shareholders in respect of the proposed
transaction. Information regarding CME Group and NYMEX Holdings'
directors and executive officers is available in their respective
proxy statements for their 2008 annual meeting of stockholders.
Additional information regarding the interests of such potential
participants is included in the joint proxy statement/prospectus
and the other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they
become available. This document shall not constitute an offer to
sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor
shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by
means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended. CME-G DATASOURCE: CME Group
CONTACT: Media, Allan Schoenberg, +1-312-930-8189, or , Investors,
John Peschier, +1-312-930-8491 Web site: http://www.cmegroup.com/
http://www.cmegroup.mediaroom.com/
Copyright