CME May Bid for NYMEX Stake

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange might launch a counterbid for 10% of the New York Mercantile Exchange that could top General Atlantic LLC's offer of $135 million for the stake, said several people close to the matter. The CME, the largest futures exchange in the world by market capitalization, plans to match or top the offer as soon as this week, these people said. CME spokesman Allan Schoenberg and NYMEX spokeswoman Anu Ahluwalia declined to comment. Informal discussions between the CME and NYMEX began last week when CME Chairman Emeritus Leo Melamed contacted former NYMEX Chairman Z. Lou Guttman, who maintains close ties with the senior management of NYMEX as a special projects manager, said people close to NYMEX. Mr. Guttman was chairman of NYMEX from 1988 to 1993. XPRESSTRADE's take on this: Wouldn't it be grand to see NYMEX products (energies and metals) trading on the CME's battle-tested Globex system someday?