NASDAQ, ICE outbid Deutsche Boerse for acquisition of NYSE Euronext

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NASDAQ, ICE outbid Deutsche Boerse for acquisition of NYSE Euronext

2011-04-01 18:33:18 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- NASDAQ and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) on Friday made a joint proposal to acquire NYSE Euronext for approximately $11.3 billion, outbidding Deutsche Boerse.

NASDAQ and ICE said in a joint statement that the companies have made a proposal to acquire NYSE Euronext for $42.50 in cash and stock per NYSE Euronext share, or approximately $11.3 billion. The proposal represents a 19 percent premium over the price proposed by Deutsche Boerse.

Under the terms of the proposed acquisition, NYSE Euronext stockholders would receive $14.24 in cash, plus 0.4069 shares of NASDAQ OMX common stock and 0.1436 shares of ICE common stock for each NYSE Euronext share.

Further, as part of the proposal, ICE would purchase NYSE Euronext's derivatives businesses, and NASDAQ OMX would retain NYSE Euronext's remaining businesses, including the NYSE Euronext stock exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon, as well as the U.S. options business.

A combination of NASDAQ OMX and NYSE Euronext would merge the trading, listings, options and market technology businesses of the two companies to create a leading international exchange, headquartered in New York City, with a geographic footprint in sixteen countries. ICE and NASDAQ OMX would continue to operate as separate businesses throughout the proposed transaction, as well as after its completion.

"Our industry is undergoing a period of historic change," said Robert Greifeld, CEO of NASDAQ OMX. "During the last five years more than 90 percent of the top 100 global listings chose not to list in the U.S., depriving U.S. investors of the opportunity to easily invest and trade in these companies. The combination of the two leading U.S. exchanges delivers an opportunity to build a global exchange platform that has the scale and growth potential to benefit investors, issuers and other market participants."

Greifeld said he believes the acquisition would increase transparency and liquidity in U.S. markets and create jobs as new companies raise capital. "Given that our proposal is clearly a superior proposal, we hope that NYSE Euronext's Board will recognize this opportunity as well as the benefits for NYSE Euronext's employees and customers," he added.

There was no immediate response from NYSE Euronext on the proposal, but NYSE Euronext shares jumped nearly 12 percent in U.S. premarket trading following the announcement. Deutsche Boerse's shares, however, dropped nearly 3 percent while NASDAQ shares jumped nearly 7 percent. ICE shares, however, dropped nearly 2.7 percent.

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