Nymex in record IPO

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has enjoyed a record-breaking stock market debut for its initial public offering.

Shares in Nymex Holdings more than doubled on the first day of trading to become the hottest US IPO since 2000.

Nymex had earlier announced an initial public offering of 6,500,000 shares of its common stock priced at $59 per share. On their first day of trading, the shares soared upwards by $77, or 131 percent, to $136 at 12:09 pm, according to Bloomberg data. The company had earlier forecast that shares would sell somewhere in the region of $48-$52.

The IPO marks a new chapter for the owner of the world’s largest energy market, ending 130 years as a private, member owned physical commodity futures exchange. One of the last US exchanges to become a public company, Nymex follows in the footsteps of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and IntercontinentalExchange, both of whom have seen their share price increase dramatically since their respective stock market debuts.

Nymex in particular is benefiting from surging demand for energy and commodities contracts worldwide. Based on today’s trading its current market capitalization stands at somewhere in the $12 billion region, behind the $18.5 billion market capitalization for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the $16.3 billion for the Deutsche Boerse, the $14.9 billion for the New York Stock Exchange.

The closing of the offering is scheduled to take place on November 22, 2006.