DealZone

BM&FBovespa, the world’s third-largest exchange operator by market value, aims to raise its stake in CME Group to 5 percent, making it among the top three shareholders in the fast-moving market maker. Given Brazil’s huge presence in global commodities markets, it’s not hard to see why the country’s main exchange would want to increase its exposure to the top U.S. commodities trading entity. BM&FBovespa said it will invest $175 million over 10 years in a new trading platform with CME. But shares in CME, the world’s largest exchange operator by market cap, fell in early trading, although they later recovered to rise moderately. Hardly the reaction one would expect on news that a hungry, strategic buyer is more than doubling its stake.

It is possible regulatory concerns weighed on the stock. Cross border mergers that include potential technology transfer are natural fodder for antitrust boffins. But Bovespa is likely in for the long haul, as it has more to gain from taking a position in CME than the other biggest shareholders, Blackrock and Fidelity.

As far as the timing goes, CME which already has a 5 percent stake in BM&FBovespa, said only a couple days ago it would buy the bulk of Dow Indexes, showing it is not afraid of moving on big-name deals. The stock is nearly 20 percent down from a year high hit in early January, possibly underscoring the case for Bovespa to move at bargain prices.

The companies also agreed to develop new technologies for high-speed trading platforms for stocks, derivatives, currencies, and government and corporate bonds. What exactly Brazil brings to the development table is not immediately clear. More likely, it hopes to leverage big bags of commodities trading. It has seen a boom in trading volumes since it began offering in August 2008 direct market access for investors looking to implement algorithmic and high-frequency strategies. So for Bovespa, as well as its trading clients, timing is everything.

It's a puzzle M&A bankers and corporate executives have been trying to solve for years: how far from your home market can an acquisition take place and ultimately stumble over cultural differences? It's a question that looms large as quintessentially Italian automaker Fiat prepares to swallow up Chrysler -- inventor of the K-car and the minivan -- and which reportedly haunts St Louis-based employees of Anheuser Busch in the aftermath of their company's takeover by the penny pinching Belgians and Brazilians at InBev.

Gary Katz, CEO of Deutsche Boerse unit International Securities Exchange, insisted during his appearance at the Reuters Exchanges and Trading Summit that all has been sweetness and light since the Germans assumed control of the upstart American options exchange and that there has been "nearly zero turnover" since the takeover.

But Thomas Kloet, Chief Executive of Canadian exchange powerhouse TMX, was one of several executives at the summit who insisted that cross border mergers can often be a recipe for disaster and that the ideal mergers are "domestic roll-ups" like CME Group's takeover of Nymex and the Chicago Board of Trade or indeed TSX Group's takeover of the Montreal Exchange, which created TMX.

A fertile planting ground for tech, biotech and even some energy offerings, Nasdaq OMX has historically struggled to lure listings in some other areas, notably financial services.

Now, that could be about to change, Nasdaq OMX President Magnus Bocker said at the Reuters Exchanges and Trading Summit. As Nasdaq looks for ways to attract new listings and end a virtual drought in IPOs, it sees financial services firms as one of the most promising areas.

That Nasdaq would at least be hoping to narrow the gap in financial services listings with NYSE, the traditional ruler of the space, is not as out of left field as it might sound.