NYSE Parent Intercontinental Exchange Agrees to Acquire MarketAxess for About $6 Billion

On July 30, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, agreed to acquire MarketAxess Holdings Inc. for about $6 billion in cash, bringing one of the world's largest fixed-income trading platforms under its trading platform system. According to a statement released on Thursday, Intercontinental Exchange will acquire all outstanding shares of MarketAxess at $167 per share, a 33% premium over the latter's closing price on Wednesday. Intercontinental Exchange shares rose 0.8% to $155.46; MarketAxess shares surged 30% to $163.24, marking the biggest intraday gain since 2008.