You’d think the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade would take a honeymoon after tying the knot. 

But some traders and experts said the merger won’t stop CME Group, the new entity, from making more acquisitions.

“This is just the beginning,” said Lee Stern, a CBOT member since 1949.  “The city of Chicago will be the center of the futures industry.”

It could mean the Chicago Board Options Exchange, which Stern said “has been temporarily left at the post,” becomes a target.

Gilbert Bassett, who runs the University of Illinois at Chicago’s International Center for Futures and Derivatives, agreed that CBOE would fit right in. “One of the things that was trumpeted… is that the CME-CBOT merger makes Chicago the place in the world to do risk management,” said Bassett.

Since CBOE is the largest U.S. options exchange, “it makes sense to include CBOE,” he said.

Apart from raising antitrust concerns, a CBOE deal may not be that easy because of an ongoing battle between CBOT and CBOE over trading rights.

CME and CBOT executives at Monday’s conference were, of course, tight-lipped about further acquisitions.

“We will be very focused on this transaction and we will not look past this transaction trying to come up with what’s next,” said CME Chairman Terry Duffy.

Whether or not CME Group makes a bid for CBOE, it is unlikely to remain single for long, given how quickly exchanges are consolidating.

(Additional reporting by Doris Frankel and Christine Stebbins in Chicago)