SGX nears formal offer for Baltic Exchange

The Singapore Exchange Ltd. is expected to make a formal offer shortly to purchase London’s Baltic Exchange, and sources put the value of the potential deal around $100 million.    The Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX) will make a formal offer to purchase London’s Baltic Exchange by the middle of this month, two people involved in the matter said Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
   Sources put the value of the potential deal at around $100 million.
   The SGX entered exclusive discussions with the Baltic Exchange May 25, and on June 28, a decision was made to extend the exclusive discussions to Aug. 31.
   Founded in 1744, the Baltic Exchange launched its first series of freight market indexes in 1985 and currently provides freight indices for both the dry bulk and tanker markets. The Baltic Exchange’s most well-known index is its Baltic Dry Index, which gives a daily snapshot of the cost of chartering ships used to transport iron ore, coal, grain and other dry bulk commodities.