CME Group to Acquire Trading Technology Provider Elysian Systems Ltd.

CHICAGO and LONDON, Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire London-based Elysian Systems Ltd., an independent provider of electronic trading and market technology.  CME Group expects closing of the acquisition to occur later today.

By combining Elysian technology with CME ClearPort over-the-counter (OTC) clearing services, CME Group will provide customers with a single interface to aggregate access to diverse energy markets.  Currently, customers must search for the best price across a number of markets by comparing quotes offered through various trading and execution platforms.  Creating a single interface allows more efficient access to these markets, as well as the added benefits of straight-through-processing and the safety and security of central counterparty clearing.

This new offering will be fully integrated with CME Group clearing services in 2011.

More than 200 banks, brokers and exchanges worldwide currently use Elysian technology to participate in global, electronic markets and receive real-time market data.  Elysian's flagship technology product, the Liquid Trading Platform, facilitates online trading across a range of financial products including energy and agricultural commodities and credit default swaps.  This technology complements and increases the liquidity of existing voice-brokered markets by allowing traders and brokers to submit their orders in a global electronic marketplace.

"Our end user customers and inter-dealer broker partners have increasingly been seeking out straight-through-processing and a front-end for trading and execution in global OTC energy markets," said Joe Raia, CME Group Managing Director, Energy & Metals Products.  "By acquiring Elysian and its distribution to over 1,400 screens in over 200 trading companies, CME Group is reaching another important milestone in our efforts to deliver an end-to-end solution direct to customers' and brokers' desks.  We look forward to expanding this technology to other OTC asset classes and markets to benefit our clients worldwide."

"Elysian has always been committed to developing technology that facilitates price discovery for global market participants," said Julian Anstes, former Elysian CEO and now Director, CME Group End-to-End Technology Integration.  "By joining CME Group, we will extend the reach of our broker aggregation model and thereby provide global market participants with easier access to the liquidity, transparency and straight-through-processing of CME Group markets."

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

CME Group offers the most extensive and liquid energy complex in the world, including Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI), Natural Gas (Henry Hub), petroleum, and electricity products.  Many CME Group products are energy benchmarks that set the price for these resources worldwide.  From the world's largest industrial companies to financial institutions, a diverse universe of market participants rely on CME Group energy markets for managing their risk.  In addition to listed derivatives offered on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and the company's New York trading floor, the company also offers clearing services for OTC energy products through its CME ClearPort clearing service.  Energy contracts are listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of NYMEX.

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate.  CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago.  CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the largest central counterparty clearing services in the world, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for OTC derivatives transactions through CME ClearPort services.  These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk in both listed and OTC derivatives markets.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc.  The Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Globex are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  ClearPort is a trademark of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  Elysian and Liquid Trading Platform are trademarks of Elysian Systems Ltd.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  Further information about CME Group (Nasdaq: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group