Chicago Stock Exchange Inc. and North America Casin Holdings Inc. have mutually agreed to terminate an agreement for the Chinese-tied investor group's acquisition of the exchange operator after the Securities and Exchange Commission disapproved the deal.
In a statement, Chicago Stock Exchange President and CEO John Kerin said he was disappointed by the regulator's decision to block the deal, saying a merger with North America Casin Holdings "would have been a good outcome for our shareholders."
Staff at the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets on Aug. 9, 2017, had recommended approving proposed rule changes that would have paved the way for the transaction. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had also approved of the acquisition.
But in a move that broke sharply with precedent, the SEC's five-person commission Feb. 15 overruled the recommendation and voted unanimously to reject the deal.
