IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), the top derivatives exchange and clearing house operator, said its takeover of NYSE Euronext would close on November 13, after clearing final regulatory hurdles on Friday.

The derivatives exchange and clearing house operator said in December it would buy the owner of the New York Stock Exchange in a deal that also gives ICE control of Liffe, Europe's No.2 derivatives market.

The transaction had been expected to close on Monday, November 4, but ICE said on Wednesday that while there were no substantive issues remaining, certain European regulators needed more time to review the takeover.

The deal, which consists of around 75 per cent shares and 25 per cent cash, was worth $10.9 billion as of November 1.

Shares of ICE and NYSE will cease to trade after Tuesday, November 12, and the shares of the merged company will begin trading the next day under the ticker symbol "ICE" on the New York Stock Exchange.

ICE chief executive Jeff Sprecher, who helped start the company in 2000 and built it up through a series of deals, said on a call with analysts on Tuesday that ICE would move quickly to integrate the parts of NYSE it plans to keep, while unloading other parts of the business.

Sprecher has had a history of eliminating the trading floors of the exchanges his company has bought, but has vowed to keep open the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which traces its origins back to an agreement signed under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in 1792.

ICE said in December it expects to cut the majority of $450 million of run-rate expenses from the combined company by the second full year after the deal closes.

NYSE's website says the company has 2,993 employees, while ICE had 1,121 employees as of September 30, according to a recent regulatory filing.

ICE also plans to spin off Euronext, which includes the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon stock exchanges, in an IPO likely some time next year.-Reuters