U.S. FTC seeks to block ICE's $13 bln takeover of Black Knight - Politico (updated)

Black Knight

27/02/2023 19:50

(Adds details, background)
       Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is
expected to challenge Intercontinental Exchange Inc's  ICE.N 
$13 billion deal for mortgage software company Black Knight
 BKI.N , Politico reported on Monday citing three people with
direct knowledge of the matter. 
    The FTC has been scrutinizing the Black Knight deal for
months amid concerns from some U.S. lawmakers the pricing power
ICE would gain in the mortgage data market that lenders rely on
could lead to higher costs for consumers.
    A case is expected to be filed in March, the report added,
and no decision would be final until then. 
    Reuters reported earlier this month Black Knight had decided
to put its Empower loan origination software business up for
sale in an effort to overcome U.S. antitrust concerns. 
    ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has been
pushing into the mortgage market in recent years as a way to
diversify its business away from share trading.
  

 (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru;
Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))