Euro Falls as Euronext’s IPO Closes Up (and Other Related News)

IntercontinentalExchange Group, Inc. recently declared that the IPO of Euronext, its stock exchange operator, could be valued at up to 1.75 billion Euro, or $2.4 billion. The share price for the IPO is expected to oscillate between 19 and 25 Euro ($25.9 to $34) per share.

Just in case you are not familiar with the issue, Euronext merged with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2006. The resulting company was then bought, in 2013, by Atlanta-based ICE, for roughly $8 billion. However, last month, the exchanges’ parent company, ICE, announced its plans to float Euronext. This basically means that the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon Exchanges are up for sale.

At CNBC’s Global Markets Report, one anchorman assures, nonetheless, that “the real action in Europe at the moment isn’t actually on the big headlines that you can see, it’s more the kind of behind-the-scenes back room stuff (…) In the wake of the ECB [European Central Bank] move at the end of last week, on Thursday, the Euro broke yesterday below its 200-day moving average. It continues to move into negative territory, as you can see. And actually, it’s more than that; the bond yields continue to rise in, for example, Greece. That maybe one reason why the Euro is lower, because of the rates of the United States versus what’s happening in Europe, as those bond markets rise and the yields come down; and also, the rate at which banks lend to one another has hit a record low in the wake of that ECB announcement” (CNBC).

On another note, Wilbur Ross, Chairman and CEO at WL Ross and Co., who usually invests in distressed debt and similar obligations, announced today that he will soon place in the market his 5.5% stake (worth about $650 million) in the Bank of Ireland.

Since Mr. Ross, and a big consortium, purchased the stock at 10 cents a share, three years the price has almost tripled –price rose about 180% over the period.

In an interview last week, the investor had pointed out other options still attractive in Europe, such as Greece.

Finally, the anchorman talked about SABMiller:

“the brewing giant, which has been spiking during the course of the session, as you can see. It’s currently up almost 5%. Now, I have absolutely no information, proprietary information on this, but I will point out that overnight the Financial Times was reporting that there’s further chat that Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR) (NYSE:BUD) might take it over. Apparently, according to the FT, rumor is somebody’s in the market, trying to raise $60 billion of debt in Europe and this is one of the names in the frame. It’s not conclusive. I have nothing in particular to tell you other than it is spiking toward the end of the session.”

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position or interest in any securities mentioned