Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) and Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE.N) promised to pay a $350 million fee to NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) if regulators knock down their takeover offer, in a bid to get NYSE to start deal talks. Nasdaq and ICE also said they had secured committed financing from banks to back their $11.3 billion bid for NYSE, and expected U.S. antitrust regulators to start a review of their bid soon. A merged Nasdaq and NYSE would have a virtual stranglehold on U.S. stock listings. The announcement was designed to address two key concerns raised by NYSE's board: antitrust risk and strategic fit. NYSE had unanimously rejected Nasdaq and ICE's bid in favor of a $10.2 billion deal with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG. (DB1Gn.DE) NYSE said on Tuesday it will review the revised bid submitted by Nasdaq and ICE. But the $350 million reverse breakup fee offered by Nasdaq and ICE falls far short of the $1 billion or more that sources have said NYSE would likely want.
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