CHICAGO — The CME Group denied a report Wednesday that it is in talks to buy rival Chicago exchange Cboe Global Markets for $16 billion.
The unconfirmed all-stock offer, which was reported by the Financial Times using “three people familiar with the talks,” would combine two of the world’s largest financial derivatives exchanges, creating a Chicago-based trading behemoth.
“CME Group denies all rumors that is in conversations to acquire Cboe Global Markets,” the CME said in a news release Wednesday afternoon following publication of the Financial Times story. “The company has not had any discussions with Cboe whatsoever.”
CME spokeswoman Anita Liskey declined to comment beyond the news release.
“As a matter of policy, Cboe does not comment on market rumors or speculation,” the Cboe said in a statement.
The CME Group, which was formed by the 2007 merger between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, is one of the world’s largest futures exchanges, trading everything from agricultural products to equities. Most of CME Group’s floor trading pits were closed in 2015, as open outcry futures dwindled to a fraction of the company’s total futures volume, supplanted by electronic trading.
Launched as the Chicago Board Options Exchange in 1973, the Cboe spun off as a publicly traded company in 2010, growing into one of the world’s largest options exchanges and a staple of securities traders worldwide. Its signature products include the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which measures the expected movement of the broader stock market.
Shares of CME closed down 3.8% to $197.58, while shares of Cboe fell 1.2% to $122.63 after soaring midday to $139 per share on the reported merger talks.
