But it could draw much less interest from investors once it restructures, mainly because its electronic side will remain in the same corporation as its traditional open-outcry pits, which would seem a less attractive investment with their declining volume should the exchange seek to go public.In addition, the CBOE said Thursday it is no longer interested in exploring a merger with the CBOT. A merger with the options exchange also would have made the CBOT a more attractive investment.Both the revised restructuring plan and the CBOE's rejection of a merger were bitter pills to swallow for CBOT Chairman David Brennan.

Earlier this year, he fought the CBOE fiercely on the trading-rights issue, saying the CBOT's restructuring plan met the terms of a 1992 agreement between the exchanges. By backing down, Mr. Brennan essentially acknowledged that theCBOT wouldn't fight the CBOE any longer.Ironically, Mr. Brennan didn't mention the CBOE in a letter to members Thursday describing the altered restructuring. However, the letter was notably sober, without any claims that the new plan bettered the old one.

"The board of directors believes this revised strategy will enable us to move forward more quickly with becoming a for-profit company and modernizing our governance structure," Mr. Brennan wrote. The CBOE had challenged the CBOT's plan to split into separate open-outcry and electronic entities, saying it could result in a flood of CBOT members demanding trading rights at the CBOE. Since the early 1970s, when CBOT members formed the CBOE, full members from the CBOT have been allowed to trade at the CBOE.