CMA Probed Merger Deal between IHS Markit and CME

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave a notice that  the merger notice provided by IHS Markit Ltd and CME Global Inc. in relation to the anticipated joint venture between IHS Markit Ltd's MarkitSERV Business and CME Global Inc.'s optimization Business meets the requirements of section 96(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act).

The initial period defined in section 34ZA(3) of the Act in relation to the Transaction therefore commences on the first working day after the date of this notice, ie on 7 June 2021. The deadline for the CMA to announce its decision whether to refer the Merger for a Phase 2 investigation is therefore 30 July 2021.

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, announced on Jan 11, 2021 that they have agreed to combine their post-trade services into a new joint venture.

The new company will include trade processing and risk mitigation operations. It will incorporate CME Group's optimization businesses including Traiana, TriOptima and Reset and IHS Markit's MarkitSERV.

The combination of these complementary offerings will provide clients with enhanced platforms and services for global OTC markets across interest rate, FX, equity and credit asset classes. Market participants will benefit from a more efficient front-to-back workflow with enhanced connectivity and improved trading certainty. As a result, OTC market participants will be able to improve risk management and streamline post-trade operations.