Cboe puts HQ up for sale; will move to the Old Post Office?

Chicago options exchange company Cboe Global Markets has put its South Loop headquarters building up for sale after announcing earlier this year that it was considering a move.

Chief Financial Officer Brian Schell told analysts on a conference call this morning that the company expects to relocate by about the middle of next year.

The company’s plan to move to a new Chicago address follows Cboe’s 2016 acquisition of Bats Global Markets and subsequent merger, which shifted some work south to the onetime Bats headquarters in suburban Kansas City. The Bats exchange was fully electronic, while the older Cboe still operates a floor-based exchange in Chicago, as well as electronic exchanges.

Cboe had 842 employees worldwide as of the end of last year, down from 889 at the end of 2017, according to annual filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission. That includes 425 employees in Chicago.

Cboe began construction on the building in the early 1980s and moved into it in 1984. It has 350,000 square feet, though the company occupies only 300,000 square feet, according to recent regulatory filings.

Cboe is the largest U.S. options exchange, though competition to maintain market share is fierce. The company reported today that its net income for the first half of the year fell 11 percent to $178.6 million while revenue declined 15 percent to $1.22 billion.