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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Nasdaq, ICE press NYSE to talk with new bid, (NASDAQ: NDAQ), (NYSE: ICE), (NYSE: NYX)

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O) and Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE.N) put pressure on NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) on Tuesday to start talks by promising to pay a $350 million fee if regulators blocked their takeover attempt. Nasdaq and ICE also said they secured committed financing from banks to back their $11.1 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 earlier rejected Nasdaq and ICE's initial bid in favor of a $9.8 billion deal with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG. (DB1Gn.DE) Nasdaq and ICE also said they would give money to NYSE to pay a 250 million euro ($357.5 million) breakup fee the Big Board parent will have to give to Deutsche Boerse if it walks away from their existing deal.

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