ICE exec: with deal done, “let’s go to work”

Sprecher wasn’t ready to discuss plans for the future of the exchange, though he has said he intends to keep its trading floor open. ICE, which is now headquartered in both Atlanta and New York, will hold a conference call next week with more details.

Sprecher — who in the past said he didn’t want to “redecorate somebody else’s living room until I own the house” — said he still has “fabric swatches laying out,” in regard to his plans.

ICE has bought and integrated a number of exchanges since it was founded 13 years ago, and on one hand, Sprecher said, this is just another acquisition.

But he understands the excitement others feel about the NYSE.

“To the outside world, it’s something very, very special,” he said. “It does infect you in a way. It’s something extraordinary.”

In a speech at the Operation Hope Global Financial Dignity Summit in Atlanta Thursday, Duncan Niederauer, an ICE president and CEO of the stock exchange, and the former CEO of NYSE Euronext — which owned the stock exchange — said little about the deal. But he alluded to the hours involved, saying it had been “a long few days.”

Sprecher, too, said he is exhausted. But that won’t slow the process down.

“Our successes and failures are going to be more publicized,” he said. “I hope that doesn’t stop us from taking more risks that will result in failure.”

With the acquisition, ICE’s market capitalization climbs to $23 billion. ICE now operates 16 global exchanges and five central clearing houses. On the exchanges, it acts like eBay, matching buyers and sellers. The clearing houses are a PayPal-like component of its business, where it makes sure that people making trades get paid.