CHRONOLOGY-Consolidation among commodity exchanges

March 18 (Reuters) - CME Group Inc CME.N, the world's
largest derivatives exchange, on Monday forged a definitive
agreement to buy energy and precious metals mart NYMEX NMX.N
for about $9.4 billion.

Here is a chronology of important consolidation moves by
commodities and energy markets worldwide:

1848 -- Eighty three traders establish the Chicago Board of
Trade (CBOT) on April 3.

1882 - The Butter, Cheese and Egg Exchange became the New
York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

1919 - Chicago Butter and Egg Board becomes Chicago
Mercantile Exchange (CME) in order to trade in additional
agricultural futures contracts. A clearing house is also
established.

1933 - The Commodity Exchange (COMEX) founded through merger
of the National Metal Exchange, the Rubber Exchange of New York,
the National Raw Silk Exchange and the New York Hide Exchange.

1973 -- CBOT establishes the Chicago Board Options Exchange,
a new exchange that trades call and put options on stocks.

1979 - Coffee and Sugar Exchange merges with New York Cocoa
Exchange to establish the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange
(CSCE).

1994 - NYMEX and COMEX merge, creating the world's largest
physical commodity futures exchange -- a marketplace for energy
products, precious metals and base metals.

1998 - New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) becomes the parent
firm of both the New York Cotton Exchange and the CSCE.

June 2001 - Internet-based commodity market
IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) buys the London-based
International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), valuing it at $67.5
million.

October 2001 - Paris-based European exchange operator
Euronext beats the London stock Exchange to acquire London-based
derivatives market LIFFE for 555 million pounds ($805 million).
LIFFE trades futures contracts in everything from shares to
sugar and from wheat to weather.

June 2004 - NYBOT completes the merger of its two units --
the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE) and the New York
Cotton Exchange (NYCE).

October 2006 - CME, the world's largest derivatives
exchange, agrees to buy cross-town rival CBOT for $8 billion,
ending a century of competition to create the world's largest
publicly traded exchange by market capitalization.

January 2007 - Atlanta-based ICE buys NYBOT for $1.07
billion.

June 2007 - ICE says it will buy Canada's privately held
agricultural futures bourse, Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, for a
deal worth C$40 million (US$37.4 million).

November 2007 - NYMEX Holdings Inc snaps up 15.1 percent of
Norwegian sea freight derivatives exchange IMAREX ASA for $52
million.

January 2008 - CME Group ratifies the equity stake of about
10 percent in Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange SA, the
world's fourth-largest futures exchange. BM&F will acquire about
1.2 million shares of CME Group common stock.

February 2008 - Norway's freight derivatives and energy
exchange Imarex agrees to buy British energy marketplace
Spectron Group for $138 million.

February 2008 - NYSE Euronext agrees to buy a 5 percent
stake in India's Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for $55 million,
aiming to obtain a slice of the commodities boom in India.

March 17, 2008 - CME Group CME.N, the parent company of
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade,
finalizes a deal to buy NYMEX NMX.N for about $9.4 billion.
MAJOR EXCHANGES REMAINING INDEPENDENT:
London Metal Exchange (LME) - Industrial metals and plastics
Kansas City Board of Trade - Winter wheat
Minneapolis Grain Exchange - Spring wheat
Shanghai Metal Exchange (SHME) - Non-ferrous metals
Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) - Oil futures and options
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) - Precious metals

Source: Reuters
(Writing by Nagesh Narayana, editing by Matthew Lewis)