Companies to reach a settlement this month
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) can now move ahead with its $12 billion takeover of mortgage software company Black Knight after the Federal Trade Commission dismissed a court case aiming to halt the deal on competition grounds.
According to a Financial Times report, the latest development enables ICE and Black Knight to continue working toward a final settlement agreement and resolve the FTC’s challenge to the acquisition.
The companies said they have entered into a timing agreement with FTC to refrain from closing ICE’s acquisition of Black Knight before the parties sign an Agreement Containing Consent Order (ACCO). A final settlement is due later this month.
The move comes a few months after ICE announced two planned divestitures of Black Knight’s Optimal Blue business and Empower loan origination system (LOS) business, intended to support the acquisition.
“This transaction will benefit ICE, Black Knight, and our collective shareholders,” ICE chief financial officer Warren Gardiner said in a statement. “Black Knight’s high-growth, recurring revenue stream will further complement our ‘all weather’ business model, while the strength of ICE’s balance sheet, and our combined cash flows, position this transaction to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year.”
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