NYSE Euronext Resists Unsolicited Takeover Bid

NYSE Euronext, the giant company running the New York Stock Exchange, among others, has turned down an unsolicited takeover bid by Nasdaq OMX Group and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). The group will instead stick with an earlier agreement and merge with Deutsche Börse. The group said that it felt the bid from its rival was not in its best interest.

“Breaking up NYSE Euronext, burdening the pieces with high levels of debt, and destroying its invaluable human capital, would be a strategic mistake in terms of where the global markets are going, and is clearly not in the best interests of our shareholders,” NYSE Euronet's Chariman Jan-Michiel Hessels said in a statement.

Instead the merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse will move forward. It was agreed upon in February and is worth $10 billion. Deutsche Börse shareholders will have a 60 percent stake in the group. The value of the merger is less than the $11.3 billion bid that was submitted by NASDAQ and ICE on April 1.

"We are surprised by the response of the NYSE board of directors, as our proposal has been well received by shareholders," NASDAQ and ICE said in a statement. "We are reviewing their statement and will respond more formally shortly."

There was some concern that accepting the NASDAQ and ICE's bid would violate anti-trust rules. A deal between NYSE Euronext and NASDAQ and ICE would have given NASDAQ control over the New York Stock Exchange and would have created a virtual monopoly over listings in America. In their statement about turning down the bid, NYSE Euronext expressed concern that the deal would not pass muster from antitrust regulators.