(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has agreed to dismiss a federal court case against Intercontinental Exchange's (ICE) $11.7 billion proposed acquisition of Black Knight, easing the regulatory path to close the deal.
On Monday, New York Stock Exchange-owner ICE and mortgage data vendor Black Knight said the joint agreement will allow them to continue working toward a final settlement agreement with the FTC. The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shares of Black Knight rose 4.7% to $74.89 in premarket trading. They have gained over 12% since the deal was first announced in May, as of their last close.
The agreement clears a major regulatory hurdle for ICE and Black Knight, which had been struggling to get a green light from regulators.
Black Knight said in mid-July that it would sell its Optimal Blue business for $700 million, shedding a second unit to respond to the FTC's antitrust concerns. Optimal Blue provides data and technology to price and trade mortgages.
In March, the FTC vowed to take action against the exchange owner's deal for Black Knight after some U.S. lawmakers warned that the pricing power ICE would gain in the mortgage data market could lead to higher costs for consumers.
President Joe Biden has promised tougher antitrust enforcement and his enforcers have stopped an unusually large number of deals, with many companies terminating problematic transactions without a fight. When they have gone to court against merging companies, however, the government has lost more than it won.
ICE has clinched several deals in recent years as it looks to expand beyond its core exchanges business. In 2020, it bought mortgage technology platform Ellie Mae in an $11 billion deal.
A year before that, it had also bought Simplifile in a $335 million deal.
The parties involved will look to come to mutually acceptable terms by Aug. 25.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sharon Singleton)
