CME: CBOT bid more costly than thought

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's bid for the Chicago Board of Trade is costing $45 million more than it expected, the Merc says.

The Merc now expects the merger cost to be $107 million, up from the $62 million it estimated March 1, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The additional costs are associated with a competing bid by Atlanta's Intercontinental Exchange Inc. and a government antitrust probe, analysts told Crain's Chicago Business.

The Merc did not give a reason for the increase.

It repeated in its filing that it expected to complete the CBOT purchase in mid-July. The Merc was spun off from the CBOT in 1898.

Meanwhile, the CBOT is reviewing Intercontinental's all-stock proposal, which valued the Board of Trade at about $10.3 billion, based on recent stock prices, Crain's reported. The Merc's offer values the CBOT at $8.1 billion.

Merc Chief Executive Craig Donohue has said his bid is worth more than the Intercontinental's because it will save more money for customers and let the combined company cut more costs.