WCE Sold to IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.

[melvill]

At a special meeting of WCE shareholders, today, the sale of the WCE to ICE, Inc. The Manitoba Securities Commission has approved. Court approval has been requested for August 27. I've no idea what changes are in store.

[padron]

Shifting the ownership of the WCE away from principals in the industry to an unbiased third party should be viewed as a positive step. Not that this was ever a problem but many held a stigma against the WCE and didn't trust it primarily for that reason.

In a more sober moment, with the luxury of hindsight, ICE management is probably going to say "We paid how much?!!!" $50 million doesn't cipher on any calculator I've ever used. But good on the shareholders for selling at the right time.

The new owners have a much stronger motivation to expand services and improve sluggish products so this can only be viewed as a positive development for producers, consumers, traders and risk managers in western Canada.