News, analysis and personal reflections on the markets & the financial sector

Saturday, May 22, 2010

CBOE members OK demutualization

(Crain's) — Members of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the largest U.S. options exchange, voted 96.2 % in favor of a demutualization that will transform their member-owned exchange into a company ready to sell shares to the public for the first time.

The members, each of whom are slated to get 80,000 shares prior to the IPO in exchange for giving up ownership of their exchange seats, cast 870 of their 904 votes for the demutualization, with 34 voting against it and no abstentions, the exchange said in a release. About 90% of the membership voted.

“I’m not surprised,” CBOE seat owner Chuck Sorsby said of the results. “Seat owners recognize that demutualization and an IPO is something we want to do and need to do to get liquidity and to compete more aggressively.”

The exchange’s parent, CBOE Holdings Inc., filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March for the stock sale and plans to sell 11.7 million shares at a minimum price of $25 per share. A final price will be set in the days before the initial public offering, which is expected in June. The company plans to list the shares on Nasdaq OMX.

No comments: