| Nasdaq acquires Nordic power exchange Nord Pool |
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17/03/2010 18:58 (696 Day 04:49 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. agreed to buy Nord Pool ASA, the world's largest power derivatives exchange. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Nord Pool ASA is the world's largest power derivatives exchange, covering the Nordic countries, as well as a major European carbon exchange, according to Reuters.
Nasdaq OMX already owned Nord Pool's clearing activities, international derivatives and consulting operations, which it had bought in October 2008, the same source reports.
"The transaction has strong strategic rationale by reuniting the power and carbon derivatives exchange and clearing business under the same parent," said Geir Reigstad, head of Nasdaq OMX Commodities, in a statement.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, according to Bloomberg. “Operating a trading platform for financial power contracts isn’t part of Svenska Kraftnaet’s core business,” Mikael Odenberg, director general of Sweden’s high-voltage power grid, said in a separate statement.
The acquisition does not include the electricity market operated by Nord Pool Spot AS, as Securities Industry reports. Nord Pool ASA will be a part of Nasdaq OMX Commodities. Its operations will remain in Lysaker outside of Oslo, Norway.
Nord Pool Spot AS, the physical platform, remains an important part of the market’s infrastructure and won’t be sold, he said, Bloomberg informs. Statnett and Svenska Kraftnaet own 30 percent each and Fingrid Oyj and Energinet.dk, the Finnish and Danish grid companies, each own 20 percent.
According to Reuters, the decision to buy Nord Pool comes after Nord Pool's previous owners, power grid operators Statnett and Svenska Kraftnat, decided to exercise their option to sell the shares in the company.
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