OREANDA-NEWS. Deutsche Börse AG (“Deutsche Börse”) and NASDAQ, Inc. (“NASDAQ”) have today entered into an agreement regarding the sale of International Securities Exchange Holdings, Inc. (“ISE”), operator of three US equity options exchanges, and ISE’s holding company U.S. Exchange Holdings, Inc. to NASDAQ for a total cash consideration of 1.1 billion US$. The agreement excludes ownership interest in Bats Global Markets, Inc. and in Digital Asset Holdings LLC, which will continue to be owned by Deutsche Börse.

At the time of the acquisition ISE was allocated to the Eurex segment from a balance sheet perspective. With the divestiture, the goodwill of the Eurex segment will only reduce partially, so that a high triple-digit million euro disposal gain is expected for Deutsche Börse on the group level.

In the context of its growth strategy “Accelerate” Deutsche Börse implemented far-reaching organisational changes and defined the Group’s financial targets. As part of that, the company is constantly evaluating the competitive positioning, profitability, ability to innovate, and strategic benefits of all its shareholdings and own activities.

Carsten Kengeter, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Börse AG, said: “We are pursuing the goal to become the number one or two player in every business in which we operate. This goal requires an active management of our business portfolio. In areas where we are not able to meet this goal, we are evaluating other options. ISE, purchased in 2007 before the financial crisis, is a highly attractive asset that has excellent prospects to develop under the ownership of an US exchange.”

Carsten Kengeter also said: “We greatly value the contributions that ISE has made to the Group over the past eight years. They proved themselves to be a highly qualified management team, serial innovators, and developers of outstanding technology during an extremely challenging time in a highly competitive environment.”

The completion of the transaction is subject to the approval by competition and supervisory authorities and is anticipated for the second half of 2016.

Perella Weinberg Partners LP is advising Deutsche Börse on the transaction. Allen & Overy is serving as Deutsche Börse’s legal counsel.