ICE, Black Knight Deal Suit Dropped by FTC Pending Accord (1)

The Federal Trade Commission agreed to drop its challenge to Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s proposed deal with Black Knight Inc. in a joint stipulation that allows them to work toward a settlement.

ICE and Black Knight agreed with the FTC to refrain from closing the transaction until 10 days after they sign a consent order, the companies announced Monday. Under the agreement, the FTC’s federal court complaint and a temporary restraining order would be dropped while the parties continue to hammer out the settlement.

Black Knight shares were up 4.2% as of 3:49 p.m. in New York, while shares of ICE were up 1.6%.

“FTC staff have made significant progress towards a potential resolution regarding the Commission’s concerns over ICE’s acquisition of Black Knight,” FTC spokesperson Victoria Graham said in a statement. “The Commission looks forward to finalizing this resolution with the parties that will protect and preserve competition.”

The FTC challenged the merger in March, when it was valued at $11.7 billion. Monday’s agreement follows the announced sale of Black Knight’s Empower and Optimal Blue businesses to rival Constellation Software Inc., a divestiture subject to closing of the overall deal.

Read More: Black Knight-ICE Deal Hopes Fueled by Unit Sale Before FTC Fight

The agreement struck with the FTC by the mortgage software company and the exchange, which also owns a widely used mortgage software provider, heads off the need for an injunction hearing that was set to begin on Aug. 14 in San Francisco. The antitrust agency had sought a court order pausing the deal while its in-house trial determined the merger’s legality this fall.

The announcement comes as the FTC and Chair Lina Khan have faced criticism over the agency’s litigation record,with Republican lawmakers accusing the agency of “wasting taxpayer resources.” So far this year, the FTC has lost two courtroom merger challenges, including to Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. deal and to a Meta Platforms Inc. acquisition. It is appealing the Microsoft ruling.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Intercontinental Exchange, 23-cv-1710, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

Read More

• FTC Sues to Block ICE-Black Knight Mortgage Software Deal
• Lina Khan’s Bad Week Dims Hopes for New Era of Tech Antitrust

(Updates with share price, FTC comment beginning in third paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Leah Nylen in Washington at lnylen2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman, Peter Jeffrey

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