Nymex President J. Robert “Bo” Collins has turned down a new contract with the exchange, possibly in response to a request to take a pay cut following a rumored disagreement with the board over whether to accept an offer by Boston-based equity firm Parthenon Capital LLC to buy a majority stake in the exchange.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the nation’s largest commodity futures exchange, said the departure was by “mutual agreement.” Collins current contract is up at the end of the month. He has been president of the exchange since July 2001. Prior to that, he was a trade representative on the board as the senior vice president of natural gas trading at El Paso Merchant Energy.

“Bo has provided valuable insight and leadership and made many contributions to the exchange in his three years as president, including major advancements in our technology strategy and platform, greater working relationships with our customers, and stronger involvement in government affairs,” said Nymex Chairman Mitchell Steinhause. “We wish him the best of luck as he pursues new career opportunities.”

Quoting sources close to the board, Dow Jones said Collins’ departure follows months of tension with board members, many of whom resisted his efforts this spring to forge the acquisition by Parthenon.

In April, Nymex received an unsolicited offer from Parthenon to buy a 60% controlling interest in the exchange for up to $2 million per seat, or about $980 million for 490 seats on the exchange. Parthenon, a private equity investment firm with about $1.1 billion under management, said the offer included cash and other undisclosed considerations. It represented a 30% premium to the most recent purchase of a Nymex seat. Parthenon’s proposal stated that the transaction would include, among other things, support for and preservation of open outcry trading. It was the first time the exchange has received an offer to buy a majority stake (see Daily GPI, April 12).

Several members of the board apparently believed the deal undervalued the exchange. The board also may have been suspicious of Collins’ support for the deal because of a clause in his current contract offering him 2% of the value of any merger or acquisition deal, the Dow Jones story said. Nymex retained investment banks to examine Parthenon offer in late April, and the deal apparently is still under review.

“I absolutely deny that there was disagreement over Parthenon,” said Nymex spokeswoman Nachamah Jacobovits. “There has been no resolution on that offer. It is still being explored on both sides (and by the way it was an acquisition offer, not a merger). I obviously won’t comment on anyone’s contract negotiations.”

According to the Nymex insider quoted in the Dow Jones story, Collin’s new contract offer lowered his base salary by $200,000 to $1 million and reduced the cut he would receive in the event of a public offering, private placement or merger by the exchange. The change in terms would revert Collins back to his early salary when he first joined the exchange in July 2001, plus bonus.

Jacobovits said the exchange has not yet started the search for a successor.

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