The New York Mercantile Exchange, like its neighbour the New York Stock Exchange, is looking for a company-changing deal to leave it better equipped to compete in the electronic trading world.

Instead of embracing electronics like the NYSE, the Nymex is seeking investors who will provide assurance that its pit, where traders in colourful jackets and loud voices buy and sell crude futures, remains open for at least another decade. That is in spite of its closest rival, the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), moving from the floor to the screen with a high degree of success.