Nymex buys stake in Optionable to expand options trading

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has announced it will buy a 19% stake in Optionable, a New York-based provider of natural gas and other energy options.

The deal also includes a warrant permitting Nymex to buy a further 21% of Optionable up to a maximum of 40% at $4.30 a share within 18 months of the deal closing, which is expected in the next 60 days, subject to due diligence and documentation.

The collaboration will develop OPEX, Optionable’s electronic energy options trading platform, and will fulfil Nymex’s aim of increasing its options trading, both open outcry and electronic. This could include using the technology on the floor to complement open outcry trading. Nymex chairman Richard Schaeffer said: “We recognise that options trading, both open outcry and electronic, will be a significant component of our future growth.”

This development follows Nymex’s move into electronic trading of energy futures in conjunction with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in September 2006.