New York-based International Securities Exchange Holdings, Inc. announced that stockholders voted to approve the merger agreement in which Eurex will acquire ISE at a special meeting held today.

The firm reported that 99.7% of those who voted were in favor of the agreement. More than 67% of eligible shares were voted. Under the terms of the merger agreement announced on April 30, ISE stockholders will receive $67.50 in cash for each ISE share held. The results of the stockholder vote were certified by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

“Our affirmative stockholder vote is a significant milestone as ISE and Eurex move forward to combine our two businesses to create the leading transatlantic derivatives marketplace,” said David Krell, ISE president and CEO. “We are very pleased that our stockholders support this combination, which is an important strategic step to grow ISE’s business in the years ahead. Currently, we are continuing with the necessary steps to complete this transaction as promptly as possible so that we can move forward to the integration phase.”

Andreas Preuss, CEO of Eurex and a member of the executive board of Deutsche Börse said, “The result of today’s extraordinary general meeting marks an important step towards the anticipated creation of a market leader in individual equity, equity index and long-term interest rate derivatives worldwide. We are confident that this partnership will significantly enhance our global position in the derivatives markets. It will enable ISE and Eurex to offer trading efficiencies and access to a global product suite to our respective exchange members. After the transaction closes, we plan to integrate the two businesses as promptly as possible to deliver additional value to our shareholders and customers.”

The transaction will create a transatlantic derivatives marketplace. Overall trading volume for the combined entity was 2.1 billion contracts in 2006. Eurex’s and ISE’s complementary member bases and product portfolios provide substantial growth opportunities across asset classes and national boundaries, the firms said.

The transaction also requires SEC approval. ISE and Eurex still expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter.