Looking to take a second bite of the apple, Nymex Holdings Inc., the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc., late Wednesday announced the pricing of its secondary offering of seven million shares of its common stock at $136.50 per share.

Nymex, which will not receive any of the proceeds from the offering, said the shares are being offered by Nymex stockholders, including major banks, who elected to sell shares. In addition, the underwriters have an option to purchase up to an additional 1.05 million shares to cover possible over-allotments. The offering is expected to close on Tuesday, March 27, subject to customary closing conditions.

The move by Nymex follows the company’s successful initial public offering (IPO) in November when the company and its private stockholders sold a combined 6.5 million shares, which had been expected to debut at between $54 and $57 per share, but achieved a $59 price (see Daily GPI, Nov. 15, 2006). In its first day as a publicly traded company the shares soared to more than double its IPO price, opening up 103% higher at $120 per share before climbing to a high of $152 on the New York Stock Exchange. Nymex finished its first day as a publicly traded company with a share price of $132.99 (see Daily GPI, Nov. 20, 2006).

Nymex said Wednesday that J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers, and Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Jefferies & Company Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Fox-Pitt, Kelton Inc., Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. and Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP are serving as co-managers for the offering.

Some of those same firms are among those selling off a portion of their interest. BNP Paribas is the leading seller, offering 270,000 shares while retaining 540,000. Others include: Merrill Lynch selling 240,000 and retaining 300,000; Madison Tyler Trading LLC selling 144,000, retaining 240,000; Citigroup selling 131,000, retaining 352,000; Calyon Financial selling 125,000, retaining 637,000; DRW Commodities selling 120,000, retaining 150,000; Ronin Capital LLC selling 120,000, retaining 170,000; JP Morgan selling 60,000, retaining 300,000.

Despite selling off nearly 900,000 shares in the current offering, major stockholder General Atlantic LLC will retain more than seven million shares for a 7.89% interest in the company.

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