...December 8, 2020 NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 8, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'A-' rating to Cboe Global Markets' issuance of senior unsecured notes. Cboe announced today that it intends to issue $500 million of senior unsecured notes, subject to market and customary conditions. We understand Cboe will use the proceeds to finance the previously announced acquisition of BIDS Trading, repay a portion of amounts outstanding under the term loan facility and all outstanding indebtedness under the revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. We believe the acquisition of BIDS, the largest independent block trading ATS (Alternative Trading Systems) in the U.S., will provide Cboe with a meaningful presence in the off-exchange segment of the U.S. equities market, supplementing the acquisition of Canadian-based ATS Match Now in August this year. We project leverage will peak at 1.5x pro forma at the end of 2020 (from 1.2x at the end of September 2020) but return...
