Intercontinental Exchange announced on 30 July that it will acquire New York-based MarketAxess for $167 per share in cash, an enterprise value of about $5.7bn.
Why Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. is buying MarketAxess Holdings Inc.
MarketAxess connects about 2,100 institutional investors and broker-dealers in more than 90 countries. ICE said combining that network with its retail and wealth bond trading, pricing data and index business would create a single fixed-income platform covering pre-trade analytics, execution and post-trade tools.
“Acquiring MarketAxess is the natural next step in that journey.”
Deal terms and financing
The price is a 33% premium to MarketAxess's 29 July close and values its equity at about $6.0bn. ICE will pay entirely in cash funded by newly issued bonds, term loans and commercial paper, backed by a $6.25bn bridge facility, and raised its baseline buyback to $400m a quarter. It expects the deal to add to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year.
Regulatory approvals and timing
The companies filed under the HSR Act on 26 August, then withdrew and refiled on 29 September to give the Justice Department more time; the waiting period runs to 29 October 2026, the date of MarketAxess's shareholder meeting. Closing is expected in the first half of 2027.
Market context
ICE chief executive Jeff Sprecher framed the deal as the next step after the group's moves into energy, credit default swaps and mortgage technology. Fixed-income trading remains far less electronic than equities.
