Following the success of its popular initial public offering in November, it appears that Nymex Holdings, which operates the 135-year-old New York Mercantile Exchange, is going after a second bite of the apple. On Friday the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for a potential secondary offering of shares of common stock.

Nymex said the number of shares to be included in the proposed secondary offering would depend on the interest of the Nymex stockholders participating in the proposed secondary offering, which will be determined on or about March 7. The company added that there can be no assurance that it will pursue or consummate the proposed secondary offering.

“From time to time, we and certain selling stockholders may offer and sell shares of common stock in amounts, at prices and on terms described in one or more supplements to this prospectus,” Nymex Chairman Richard Schaeffer said in the prospectus.

According to a source, the secondary offering could be valued in excess of $1 billion. Nymex Holdings in its first day as a publicly traded company soared to more than double its IPO price, opening 103% higher at $120 per share before climbing to a high of $152 on the New York Stock Exchange (see Daily GPI, Nov. 20, 2006). The newly public company’s share price finished the day at $132.99. Fewer than 10% of Nymex’s shares are currently open to be traded by the public. The company and its private stockholders sold a combined 6.5 million shares through the IPO, which had been expected to debut at between $54 and $57 per share, but achieved a $59 price (see Daily GPI, Nov. 15, 2006).

On Friday, shares of Nymex closed at $138.61, down $2.17 from Thursday.

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