The revelation that the owner of the New York Stock Exchange approached eBay Inc. about a possible takeover—only to dump the idea after an investor backlash—stunned observers on Wall Street and beyond. But it shouldn’t be surprising given the transformation of the exchange business over the past decade. Once focused on running markets, exchange operators such as NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange Inc., or ICE, have increasingly evolved into data and technology companies—and the exploration of a deal with eBay suggests executives...

Source: Wall Street Journal February 09, 2020 12:00 UTC