NYSE rejects Nasdaq bid for a second time
The board of NYSE turned down an $11.3 billion bid that would divide the company in two
In this March 15, 2011 photo, a curved seven story video billboard, center, is an iconic feature of the NASDAQ Stock Market site building in Times Square, New York. The New York Stock Exchange rejected an unsolicited bid from Nasdaq on Thursday.
AP
NEW YORK (AP) — The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange has rejected an unsolicited bid for the second time.
The board of NYSE Euronext Inc. unanimously rejected an $11.3 billion bid from Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. that would carve the company into two. Company officials reaffirmed NYSE's commitment to its previously agreed-to $10 billion merger with German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse, despite the lower price for shareholders.
NYSE's board rejected the deal in part because of the risk that regulators would not allow the country's two largest stock exchanges to merge.
The rejection sets up a fight for shareholder votes. Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld told analysts Wednesday that the company planned to appeal to shareholders directly if NYSE again rebuffed the company's advances.