SYDNEY, Australia, July 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caledonia Investments Pty. Ltd., the Sydney based investment group and largest shareholder of CBOT, today announced that they now support a CME/CBOT merger and encourage all other shareholders to vote "Yes" on July 9.

"We have always supported this merger from a strategic rationale and long- term growth perspective," said Will Vicars, Managing Director, Caledonia. "We continue to believe this combination makes massive sense for the industry, for the shareholders of both companies and customers. Now, with the CME's latest enhancement, we fully endorse this merger and will vote in favor of this transaction. This combination offers a better strategic growth proposition than any ICE proposal. While ICE may continue to try to enhance their offer, we believe a CME/CBOT combination offers the best opportunity for continued growth than any other combination this industry can possibly have."

CME and CBOT announced their merger plans in October. This week, CME increased the exchange ratio offered in its agreement to 0.3750 from 0.3500.

SOURCE: CME

CONTACT: Media: Anita Liskey, +1-312-466-4613, or Allan Schoenberg,
+1-312-930-8189, both ofCME; or Chuck Burgess of Abernathy MacGregor Group,
+1-212-371-5999, for CME; or Maria C. Gemskie of CBOT, +1-312-347-3257; or
Harlan Loeb of Financial Dynamics, for CBOT, +1-312-861-4703; or Investors:
John Peschier of CME, +1-312-930-8491; or Deborah Koopman of CBOT,
+1-312-789-8532

Web site: http://www.cme.com/