ICE to acquire MarketAxess in $5.7 billion deal

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has agreed to acquire trading platform operator MarketAxess Holdings for $5.7 billion, according to an ICE press release.

The exchange will pay $167 per MarketAxess share, representing a 33% premium to the company's closing share price on Wednesday.

Founded in 2000, MarketAxess operates a major electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities.