ICE - Black Knight/ICE spead narrows amid FTC settlement speculation

2023-08-04 16:19:48 ET

The deal spread for Intercontinental Exchange's ( NYSE: ICE ) planned $11.7 billion takeover of Black Knight ( NYSE: BKI ) narrowed amid some speculation of an upcoming settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The deal spread narrowed to $4.25 on Friday from $5.01 on Thursday as M&A investors speculated on a potential settlement this weekend after the parties asked for and were granted a delay until Monday in filing briefs for the case.

The FTC's hearing for a preliminary injunction to block the combination is scheduled for Aug. 14, with a pretrial conference set for this Tuesday.

The settlement chatter comes after the companies agreed to a new divestiture to try to satisfy the antitrust regulator last month. The companies and the FTC also agreed to delay the trial from last month until this month.

ICE and Black Knight ( BKI ) last month agreed to sell Black Knight's Optimal Blue business to Constellation Software ( OTCPK:CNSWF ) for $700 million. Black Knight jumped 16% on the news, as it appears the deal may be finally coming to fruition after it was announced last May.

"As a result of our agreeing to sell Optimal Blue, our federal trial was rescheduled to August 14, and we are in a dialogue with the FTC about potential resolution," ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said on the company's Q2 earnings call on Thursday.

In March, the FTC s ued to block the Black Knight ( BKI ) transaction, saying the deal would reduce competition and innovation in the market for mortgage loan technology and would drive up costs for lenders and homebuyers.

Earlier Friday, Intercontinental Exchange ( ICE ) w as upgraded to buy at Citi as signals improve.

More on the ICE-Black Knight Deal

• Black Knight cut at Truist as divestiture bolsters sale to ICE chances
• Black Knight ticks higher as Einhorn's Greenlight sees 75% chance of ICE deal closed
• FTC files suit to block Intercontinental Exchange's Black Knight acquisition
• Black Knight and Intercontinental Exchange Go to Court vs. FTC
• Intercontinental Exchange agrees to buy Black Knight for $13B

For further details see: