It was announced earlier this week that the New York Stock Exchange, owned by NYSE Euronext, will be sold to the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) for $8.2 billion in cash and stock, according to The Am Law Daily. There are quite a few AM Law 100 law firms involved in this potential blockbuster.
A couple of the law firms working on the sale include Shearman & Sterling, Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
In 2006, a merger for $20 billion created NYSE Euronext. The firms that advised on that deal were Wachtell, Linklaters
On its bid for NYSE Euronext, ICE is being advised by Sullivan & Cromwell. The lead attorneys for the team are John Evangelakos and Audra Cohen, who are mergers and acquisitions attorneys. The other lawyers from the firm working on the deal include chairman emeritus H. Rodgin Cohen, financial institutions partner David Gilberg, M&A partners Tim Emmerson and Olivier de Vilmorin, tax partners David Spitzer, Michael McGowan, and Nicolas de Boynes, executive compensation partner Matthew Friestedt, antitrust partner Steven Holley, securities partner Catherine Clarkin, employee benefits special counsel Lawrence Pasini and Henrik Patel, and tax special counsel David Passey.
NYSE Euronext is being advised by a legal team from Wachtell, led by mergers and acquisitions partner David Karp and antitrust partner David Schwartz. Corporate partner Karessa Cain, tax partner T. Eiko Stange and executive compensation partner Jeremy Goldstein from Wachtell are also on the team.
Should the merger gain regulatory approval, the merger would create the third-largest exchange in the world, according to Reuters. A combined ICE-NYSE Euronext will offer equity exchange and derivatives that could compete with rivals such as Deutsche Borse and the CME Group.