EU to approve ICE's $8.2 billion NYSE buy without conditions - sources

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) is set to win unconditional EU approval for its $8.2 billion (5.2 billion pounds) bid for NYSE Euronext after antitrust regulators found no competition concerns, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The deal will give ICE control of Liffe, Europe's second-largest derivatives market, and boost its presence in the interest rate futures business.

"The deal is expected to be approved by the European Commission without any conditions," said one of the people, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

ICE's announcement in March that it would cap its trading fees for Liffe soft commodities such as coffee, cocoa and sugar for five years and put product committees in place, if the merger was approved, helped ease possible competition concerns, the person said.

The promise came before the EU antitrust authority started its scrutiny of the deal.

The Commission, the EU executive which acts as pan-European competition regulator, is scheduled to decide on the deal by June 24. Antoine Colombani, commission spokesman for competition policy, declined to comment.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Adrian Croft)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-eu-approve-ices-8-2-billion-nyse-131155090.html

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