The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is buying MarketAxess for a total enterprise value of US$5.7 billion.
The deal is expected to close in H1 2027.
ICE will pay US$167 cash for each outstanding MarketAxess share, a 33% premium on 29 July’s closing price.
Through the acquisition, ICE aims to target all areas of the fixed income market within a single ecosystem. This will provide consolidated liquidity, competitive pricing and lower operational costs to traders, it said.
Chris Concannon, MarketAxess CEO, added, “MarketAxess contributes a leading fixed-income trading network and deep market expertise, while ICE brings additional retail and wealth trading protocols, strong data, connectivity, and a broader set of product capabilities.”
ICE expects that the transaction will be accretive to its earnings per share within a year of the deal’s closure. A total US$100 million in annual run-rate expense synergies are expected to be achieved within three years.
Earlier this month, MarketAxess announced a new service allowing clients to access primary and secondary markets through one system.
READ MORE: MarketAxess to develop new issue ecosystem
The firm competes with Tradeweb and Bloomberg to serve the estimated US$145.1 trillion global bond market. Last month, it fell behind Tradeweb in the ongoing race for market share in the US credit e-trading space.
READ MORE: Tradeweb leads US credit e-trading in June
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