Nasdaq, ICE top Deutsche Boerse offer for Euronext
2011-04-01 17:22:21
US tech-focused stock market Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) on Friday topped an offer for NYSE Euronext from rival German powerhouse Deutsche Boerse by some 19 percent.
Nasdaq OMX Group and ICE said in a joint statement that they were offering US$42.50 per share for all of NYSE Euronext in a combination of stock and cash.
Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced on February 15 that they would merge to create the world's biggest exchange by revenues and a major player in derivatives trading across two continents.
The US$42.50 per share offer values NYSE Euronext at US$11.3 billion based on Thursday's share prices for Nasdaq and ICE, which would make it some 19 percent more than the all-share deal offered by Deutsche Boerse to give a 60-40 split.
NYSE Euronext shareholders would get US$14.24 in cash, 0.4069 of a share in Nasdaq OMX and 0.1463 of a share in ICE, the US-based specialist in futures.
If the bid is successful, NYSE Euronext will be broken up, with its derivatives business going to ICE while Nasdaq OMX will take its stock markets in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon.
There has been intense speculation that Nasdaq OMX would organise a rival offer for NYSE Euronext as a wave of takeovers and mergers around the world reshapes the industry.
The Deutsche Boerse bid had also sparked some complaints that a foreign company was taking over a key US market and iconic part of its financial system.