NEX "looking at" ICE's Trayport - Spencer

Chief executive of NEX Group Michael Spencer has said he is considering an offer for the Intercontinental Exchange’s Trayport but played down his chances of acquiring the European energy platform.

Speaking on a results call on Wednesday morning, NEX group chief executive said when asked about ICE’s Trayport: “We are looking at it, we haven’t made a decision but I think it’s unlikely to be honest. We haven’t seen the price yet but I think it’s unlikely we will be next owner of Trayport.”

NEX, which sold its voice brokers to rival Tullett Prebon late last year, offers market-leading broking platforms for over-the-counter derivatives, foreign exchange and government bonds.

Trayport, owned by Atlanta-based ICE, is the leading European over-the-counter energy platform, so could fit with the NEX suite of broking systems.

Spencer’s comments came just days after the UK competition regulator upheld an earlier decision that the US exchange giant must sell Trayport.

ICE acquired in December 2015 Trayport from broker BGC Partners, a rival to Icap, for $650 million less than a month after the deal was announced.

But ICE’s ownership of Trayport was challenged in October 2016 by the UK’s anti-trust watchdog, which argued the “only effective way to preserve competition is to require ICE to sell Trayport”.

ICE has fought the ruling since October but suffered a setback on Friday last week when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said a deal to display ICE's products and data on Trayport should be scrapped, and ICE must press ahead with the sale of the business.

Speaking as NEX reported revenue up 10% on a constant currency basis for the three months to the end of June, Spencer said his firm is also looking at a crypto-currency platform.

He told a conference call on Wednesday: “We are contemplating building a transaction platform for crypto-currencies, that is under active discussion but we have not made a final decision.”

Spencer added: “Crypto-currencies are here to stay, they’re not just a passing fad or a fashion. They are not just going to be forgotten in five years’ time.”