CBOT Holdings Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago Inc. have filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Board Options Exchange Inc. over the CBOE’s proposed restructuring.

The CBOT says that their lawsuit seeks to enforce the rights of the CBOT’s full members to participate in the CBOE’s restructuring. The CBOE has begun the demutualization process, which will result in the conversion of CBOE from a membership organization to a wholly owned subsidiary of a new holding company, CBOE Holdings Inc. After that step is complete, it could become a publicly traded company.

The CBOT says that it seeks, among other things, an injunction requiring the CBOE to allow the full members of the CBOT who hold an exercise right and meet certain other requirements to participate equally in any distribution of CBOE stock, as the CBOT claims are required by the CBOE’s certificate of incorporation and subsequent agreements between the CBOT and CBOE.

The lawsuit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery. CBOT Holdings, the CBOT and the CBOE are all Delaware corporations. Besides CBOT Holdings and the CBOT, the plaintiffs include representatives of the class of CBOT full members. The CBOE’s Board of Directors is also named as defendants.