ICE, Gasunie Launch ICE Endex (The Netherlands)

IntercontinentalExchange and Gasunie announced the launch of ICE Endex, following receipt of competition clearance by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the U.K. and the declaration of no-objection from the Dutch Ministry of Finance. The transaction completed on March 26, 2013.

The launch of ICE Endex follows the demerger of energy exchange APX-ENDEX into two separate entities: a power spot and clearing entity and a derivatives and spot gas entity, which took place on March 1, 2013. ICE Endex, of which ICE will own 79.12% and Gasunie 20.88%, is based on the derivatives and spot gas business of former APX-ENDEX.

ICE Endex will provide a liquid, transparent and widely accessible continental European trading hub for natural gas and power derivatives, gas balancing markets and gas storage services, including the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) Virtual Trading Point in the Netherlands, the UK On-the-Day Commodity Market (OCM) and the Belgian Zeebrugge Trading Point (ZTP).

The execution of ICE Endex derivatives products will migrate to ICE’s widely accessible and state-of-the-art trading platform and trades will be cleared by ICE Clear Europe, ICE’s European clearing house later in 2013 subject to regulatory approval. The ICE Endex natural gas and power derivatives contracts will trade and clear alongside ICE’s portfolio of more than 800 global energy products further enhancing transparency and capital efficiency for market participants.

ICE Endex Holding B.V. is based in Amsterdam and one of its subsidiaries ENDEX Derivatives B.V. retains a licence to operate a regulated market in the Netherlands. The company is co-headed by Pieter Schuurs and Lucas Schmeddes, as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), respectively. Schuurs and Schmeddes were formerly COO and CFO of APX-ENDEX. The following ICE and Gasunie representatives will be supervisory board directors of ICE Endex: David Peniket, President, ICE Futures Europe; Claire Wright, Head of Finance, ICE Futures Europe; Ulco Vermeulen, Director, Business Development and Participations, Gasunie. Jacques Lafond, the former President and CEO of Total Gas & Power Ltd has agreed to serve as one of two independent members of ICE Endex Holding B.V.’s supervisory board. The second independent member will be announced in due course.

“The launch of ICE Endex in conjunction with Gasunie significantly strengthens our ability to serve participants in the continental European natural gas and power markets. We will bring our experience in the regulated North American and U.K. natural gas markets to establish and grow liquidity for natural gas hubs in continental Europe,” said David Peniket, President and COO of ICE Futures Europe.

“We regard our agreement with ICE as an important achievement, because it serves all stakeholders in this market. Gasunie and ICE share a commitment to further develop a liquid, transparent and secure gas market for customers in Europe and around the world. This is a positive development for traders, suppliers and consumers in the gas market,” said Paul van Gelder, CEO of Gasunie.

“We are pleased to expand our business with the support of two strong partners. The structure of ICE Endex will allow us to fully leverage the unique strengths and expertise of both shareholders while maintaining our focus on the development of European energy markets and local customers,” said Pieter Schuurs, President of ICE Endex.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, March 27, 2013; Image: Gasunie