CME Group CEO sees no need for new acquisitions

CHICAGO (Reuters) - CME Group Inc (CME.O) CEO Craig Donohue appeared to rule out growth by acquisition on Thursday and said excess cash would be returned to shareholders as soon as next year.

Since 2007, CME has bought two large exchanges, the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange, becoming the largest U.S. financial exchange operator.

There had been speculation the company might make more acquisitions, perhaps buying the neighboring Chicago Board Options Exchange, whose parent, CBOE Holdings Inc (CBOE.O), completed an initial public offering last month.

But Donohue said on Thursday that after an extensive review of CME's capital structure, he does not expect to buy any more rivals but instead will seek to return excess cash to shareholders.

"We do not foresee the need for additional large-scale M&A transactions to drive growth," Donohue told analysts on a conference call after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. "We have a solid foundation to drive continued organic growth."

The company, which has $409 million of cash and $2.8 billion in debt, will begin returning excess cash to shareholders as early as next year, he said.

Payouts could include dividends or share buybacks.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and John Wallace)