Acquisitions and Divestitures

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Business Combination and Asset Acquisition [Abstract]

Black Knight, Inc.

On September 5, 2023, we acquired 100% of the equity interests in Black Knight, Inc., or Black Knight, for aggregate transaction consideration of approximately $11.8 billion. The aggregate cash component of the transaction consideration was $10.5 billion. We issued 10.9 million shares of ICE common stock to Black Knight stockholders, which was based on the market price of our common stock and the average of the volume weighted averages of the trading prices of our common stock on each of the ten consecutive trading days ending three trading days prior to the closing of the merger. We expect that this transaction will build on our position as a provider of end-to-end electronic workflow solutions for the rapidly evolving U.S. residential mortgage industry. We believe the Black Knight ecosystem adds value for clients of all sizes across the mortgage and real estate lifecycles by helping organizations lower costs, increase efficiencies, grow their businesses, and reduce risk.

On September 14, 2023, or the Divestiture Date, in connection with the merger agreement, we sold Black Knight's Optimal Blue and Empower loan origination system, or LOS, businesses, or the Divestitures, to subsidiaries of Constellation Software, Inc. The cash proceeds from the Divestitures were $241 million. The structure of the Optimal Blue transaction also included a promissory note with a face value of $500 million, or the Promissory Note, issued by the purchaser to Black Knight, as a subsidiary of ICE, at the closing of the transaction. The Promissory Note had a 40-year term with a maturity date of September 5, 2063, and a coupon interest rate of 7.0% per year. The Promissory Note was valued at $235 million on the Divestiture Date. In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, 805, Business Combinations, or ASC 805, as well as ASC 360, Impairment and Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, we are required to measure an acquired long-lived asset or disposal group that is classified as held for sale at the acquisition date at fair value less cost to sell. Accordingly, there was no gain or loss recognized on the Divestitures.

For the period between the acquisition date of September 5, 2023 through the Divestiture Date, the discontinued operations of Empower and Optimal Blue were immaterial.

Pursuant to the Agreement Containing Consent Orders entered into between the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, and ICE and Black Knight, the Promissory Note was required to be sold within six months of the Divestiture Date. We elected the fair value option for the right to receive the net proceeds of the sale of the Promissory Note. As of December 31, 2023, we wrote down the value of the Promissory Note to $75 million based on Level 3 inputs, resulting in a fair value loss of $160 million. In February 2024, the FTC approved the buyer of the Promissory Note, and we completed the sale of the Promissory Note and received the $75 million of proceeds thereafter.

The estimated net fair value of the consideration transferred for Black Knight was approximately $11.4 billion as of the acquisition date, which consisted of the following (in millions):


	Transaction Consideration
Cash	$	10,542
ICE common stock*	1,274
Converted vested Black Knight awards	22
Total preliminary purchase price	$	11,838
Less: Divestitures	(476)
Total net preliminary purchase price	$	11,362

*Fair value of the ICE common stock is based on the ICE closing stock price on September 1, 2023, the last business day prior to the acquisition close.

The purchase price has been allocated to the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets and liabilities based on the preliminary respective estimated fair values on the date of acquisition. The excess of the purchase price over the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets has been recorded as goodwill, of which $186 million is expected to be deductible for tax purposes. Goodwill represents potential revenue synergies related to new product development, various expense synergies and opportunities to enter new markets, and is assigned to our Mortgage Technology business segment. The preliminary net purchase price allocation is as follows (in millions):


	Net Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation
Cash and cash equivalents	$	108
Property and equipment	119
Goodwill	9,421
Identifiable intangibles	4,948
Debt acquired	(2,397)
Other assets and liabilities, net	78
Deferred tax liabilities on identifiable intangibles	(1,266)
Other deferred tax assets	351
Net preliminary purchase price	$	11,362

In performing the net preliminary purchase price allocation, we considered, among other factors, the intended future use of acquired assets, analysis of historical financial performance and estimates of future performance of the Black Knight business. For the identified intangible assets, the fair values have been preliminarily determined using the income and cost approaches and are partially based on inputs that are unobservable including forecasted future cash flows, revenue and margin growth rates, customer attrition rates and discount rates that require judgement and are subject to change. We have not yet obtained all of the information related to the fair value of the acquired assets and liabilities.

The primary areas of the preliminary purchase price allocation that are not yet finalized relate to the valuation of the identifiable intangible assets, income taxes and certain other tangible assets and liabilities. The allocation of the purchase price will be finalized upon the completion of the analysis of the acquired assets and liabilities within one year of the date of acquisition.

The following table sets forth the components of the preliminary intangible assets associated with the acquisition as of March 31, 2024 (in millions, except years):


	Acquisition-Date Preliminary Fair Value		Weighted average life (Years)
Developed Technology	$	1,176	10
Trademarks/Tradenames	159		19
Customer Relationships	3,034		13
Data and Databases	579		10
Total	$	4,948	12

Black Knight revenues of $270 million, which are included in our mortgage technology revenues, and operating expenses of $288 million were recorded in our consolidated statement of income for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

The financial information in the table below combines the historical results for us and Black Knight for the three months ended March 31, 2023, on a pro forma basis, as though the companies had been combined as of the beginning of the prior period presented (in millions). The unaudited pro forma financial information is presented for informational purposes only and is not indicative of the results of operations that would have been achieved if the acquisition had taken place at the beginning of the period presented. Such unaudited pro forma financial information is based on the historical financial statements of ICE and Black Knight. This unaudited pro forma financial information is based on estimates and assumptions that have been made solely for purposes of developing such unaudited pro forma information, including, without limitation, purchase accounting adjustments, interest expense on debt issued to finance the purchase price, acquisition-related transaction costs, the removal of historical Black Knight intangible asset amortization and the addition of intangible asset amortization related to this acquisition. The unaudited pro forma financial information does not reflect any synergies or operating cost reductions that have been and may be achieved from the combined operations.


	Three months ended March 31, 2023
Total revenues, less transaction-based expenses	$	2,175
Net income attributable to ICE	$	544

Transaction-based expenses included within revenues, less transaction-based expenses in the table above were not impacted by pro forma adjustments and agree to the amounts presented historically in our consolidated statements of income as they relate solely to ICE and not to Black Knight.