ICE changes
Pick any two versions below to diff them.
- Balance sheet
- Intercontinental Exchange funds itself with unsecured debt of the parent company and with cash from its exchanges, data and mortgage software. At June 30, 2026, total debt was $19.8 billion, against $1.1 billion of unrestricted cash. The debt was $18.6 billion of senior notes and $1.2 billion of commercial paper. The notes had a weighted average maturity of 13 years and an average cost of 3.7%. In H1 2026, operating income of $3.06 billion covered interest expense of $408 million about 7.5 times. The largest numbers on the balance sheet are $114.6 billion of cash margin deposits and guaranty funds at its six clearing houses. This money belongs to clearing members and has an equal liability, so it does not fund ICE and is not its cash. ICE will pay about $6 billion in cash for MarketAxess. For this, it sold $3.75 billion of new notes on August 20, 2026, which it must redeem if the deal does not close. It also arranged a $2.0 billion delayed draw term loan and more commercial paper, backed by its $3.9 billion revolving credit facility. Moody's and S&P rate the new notes A3 and A- with stable outlooks. ICE expects gross leverage of 3.4 times adjusted EBITDA at closing. Its target is 3.0 times or less within 18 to 24 months. Thus debt reduction will compete with buybacks for free cash flow through about 2028. But the steady recurring revenue supports the A-range rating. As of 2026-06-30.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 29, 2026: MarketAxess shareholder vote and end of US antitrust review. Pending. Watch: Shareholder approval and no second request or suit from the Department of Justice pass; a failed vote or a longer antitrust review that delays closing fails. Oct 29, 2026: Q3 2026 earnings: mortgage technology and recurring revenue. Pending. Watch: Mortgage technology revenue growth with higher origination volume and recurring revenue growth near the 8% of Q2 pass; a new fall in mortgage revenue fails. Q2 2027 (estimate): MarketAxess deal closing and first leverage report. Pending. Watch: Closing in the first half of 2027 with gross leverage near 3.4 times and buybacks still in the plan pass; a delay past mid-2027 or higher leverage than planned fails.