Nymex Shareholders To Approve Planned Sale to CME Group

Nymex Holdings Inc. shareholders will approve its planned sale to CME Group Inc. because the transaction has "great value," enough to compensate for a price decline of almost $2 billion, the chief executive officer of Nymex, James Newsome, said.

CME, the world's largest futures exchange, in March agreed to buy Nymex for about $9.3 billion. The deal was valued at $11.2 billion when announced January 28.

Nymex shareholders, upset at the price decline, have forced the exchange to hold a special meeting on June 3 to press for a higher bid. The move followed a petition signed by more than 10% of New York-based Nymex's members.

"At the end of the day we will get the 75% approval," Mr. Newsome said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Dubai yesterday, adding we "hope to have the deal closed by the end of the year."

The merger with CME must be approved by a majority of Nymex shareholders and 75% of its 816 trading-rights holders. So-called trading rights give holders the authority to trade Nymex contracts or to lease that right.