NASDAQ OMX Purchases North American Energy Credit and Clearing Business
NEW YORK, Mar 8, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the purchase of the business of North American Energy Credit and Clearing Corp. (NECC), a Chicago-based clearinghouse for the over the counter (OTC) power and gas markets. The NECC transaction closed on March 3. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"NASDAQ OMX continues to expand its presence in OTC commodities and clearing, and this acquisition presents us with an opportunity to deliver what the U.S. power and gas market currently lacks: a clearinghouse with the flexibility to clear both financial and physical instruments," said Bob Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of The NASDAQ OMX Group. "The U.S. power and natural gas market is another area where we can strategically apply our exchange technology and an innovative clearing solution to reduce risk, increase volume, and better serve the customer through improved services and lower cost."
NASDAQ OMX is an experienced operator in the energy and commodities space through its Nord Pool market, the world's largest power derivatives exchange which has been in operation for 15 years. The exchange recently launched N2EX, its marketplace for physical UK power contracts.
"The support and resources of NASDAQ OMX will enable our team to expand our offering over the entire continental U.S. and provide the clearing facility that the industry has been seeking," said George Sladoje, former Chairman and CEO of NECC.
The NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing operation will be led by Geir Reigstad, Head of NASDAQ OMX Commodities. NASDAQ OMX has several operations in clearing across multiple asset classes, including majority-owned IDCG, which provides clearing for interest rate swaps. NASDAQ OMX also recently completed the first cross-border merger of clearing houses with the combination of its Nord Pool and Nordic clearing houses to clear Nordic equities, fixed income and power derivatives. NASDAQ OMX plans to offer central clearing in its U.K. power derivatives market in 2010.
The NECC acquisition follows NASDAQ OMX's recent purchase of a majority stake in Agora-X, which enables institutional market participants to efficiently negotiate OTC transactions in commodity and derivative contracts.
NECC's business supports the U.S. physical power and gas markets by integrating the physical and financial markets through market-neutral clearing services. It develops and provides clearing services to North American energy markets. The business' key customers include physical traders such as utilities and merchant generators, and financial traders such as banks and hedge funds. Operating as a market-neutral 'riskless principal', the clearinghouse enters matching positions with different counterparties and manages the credit risk on both sides using standard clearinghouse type margining.
For more information on NASDAQ OMX Commodities:
http://www.nasdaqomx.com/commodities
About NASDAQ OMX Group:
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with approximately 3,700 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. *Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/NASDAQ-OMX/108167527653) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein may contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the purchase of the NECC business and about our activities and plans in commodities and in clearing, both in the United States and overseas. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to, factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
NDAQG
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SOURCE: The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
CONTACT: The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. Media Contacts: Anna Rasin +46 (8) 405 66 12 Anna.Rasin@NASDAQOMX.com Robert Madden +1 646 441 5045 Robert.Madden@NASDAQOMX.com Marisha Chinsky + 1 646 441 5258 Marish.Chinsky@NASDAQOMX.com
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