2023-07-17 11:27:08 ET
Intercontinental Exchange ( NYSE: ICE ) and Black Knight ( NYSE: BKI ) and the Federal Trade Commission are asking a federal court to delay a preliminary injunction hearing set for next week after the companies agreed to a new divestiture to try to satisfy the antitrust regulator.
The parties are asking the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to delay a hearing scheduled to start July 24-July 26 to Aug. 14–16, according to a court filing on Monday.
The court request comes after ICE and Black Knight ( BKI ) said on Monday that they agreed to sell Black Knight's Optimal Blue business to Constellation Software ( OTCPK:CNSWF ) for $700 million. Black Knight jumped 14% on the news on Monday that the $11.7 billion sale to ICE may coming closer to fruition.
"The planned sale of Optimal Blue is a significant development in the case and requires time for FTC Staff to (1) analyze the implications of the divestiture for this case and the parallel administrative proceedings, (2) discuss a potential resolution of the pending matter with Defendants, and (3) advise the FTC Commissioners," the parties said in the court filing.
The Optimal Blue transaction is subject to the closing of ICE's acquisition of Black Knight, the closing of Constellation's acquisition of Black Knight's Empower loan origination system, which was announced in March , and other customary closing conditions.
The FTC in March 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.
More on the ICE-Black Knight Deal:
- An Update on How to Profit From the Black Knight-Intercontinental Exchange Merger With a Simple Arbitrage Strategy
- 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:
Black Knight, ICE and FTC request for preliminary injunction hearing to be delayed