Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and CBOT Holdings, Inc. to Merge
CHICAGO (October 18, 2006) — McDermott Will & Emery represented a special committee of the board of directors of Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Holdings in its recently announced merger with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Holdings Inc. The combined company, to be named CME Group Inc., a CME/Chicago Board of Trade Company, will be based in Chicago. With leading global derivatives trading in all major asset classes, the combined company will provide one of the world's most liquid marketplaces, with average daily trading volume approaching nine million contracts, representing approximately $4.2 trillion in notional value.
The McDermott team advising the special committee included partners Helen Friedli and Mark Harris, and associate Ryan Harris, all based in the Firm's Chicago office. The special committee was established to provide a recommendation with respect to the stockholders of CBOT Holdings that are members of the CBOT and do not hold exercise rights with respect to the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. This recommendation was required for CBOT Holdings Board approval of the transaction.
As one of the leading global derivatives exchanges, CBOT provides a diverse mix of financial, equity and commodity futures and options-on-futures products. For more information, visit www.cbot.com/. CME Holdings' parent company is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com), the largest and most diverse financial exchange in the world. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in interest rates, equities, foreign exchange, commodities, energy and alternative investments.
McDermott's Corporate Department lawyers represent a spectrum of business interests around the world, from Global 50 companies to venture backed start-ups as well as the financial institutions that support them. The Firm's lawyers are highly skilled business lawyers focused on solving complex business problems. McDermott counsels public company directors and management on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and securities law compliance in both friendly and contested public company acquisitions, proxy contests, stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures and joint ventures.
