Intercontinental Exchange gets $1.2B on sale of its Coinbase stake

New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange ([[ICE]] -1.4%) sold off its 1.4% stake in Coinbase ([[COIN]] +0.3%) earlier this month for $1.2B, Chief Financial Officer Scott Hill said on its Q1 earnings call.Subtracting tax, the sale generated $900M in net proceeds that it used to pay down debt, putting ICE ahead of schedule on its debt reduction plan, added incoming CFO Warren Gardiner.The company's leverage is at about 3.6x vs. its target of 3.25x, he noted. It can start to think about buying back stock when ICE hits that target, Gardiner said.Meanwhile, the company's Bakkt unit is set to go public through a SPAC transaction."We expect that Bakkt's merger with Victory Park SPAC will be completed toward the end of this quarter," Hill said during the call.ICE expects Q2 adjusted operating expenses of $742M-$752M, including ~$35M of additional expense related to Bakkt, he said.Q1 adjusted operating expenses were $729M.