NYSE Euronext's board on Sunday rejected an unsolicited takeover bid by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc and IntercontinentalExchange Inc, and affirmed its plan to merge with Deutsche Boerse AG. In a statement, NYSE Euronext said the directors found the $11.3 billion bid from Nasdaq and ICE "strategically unattractive, with unacceptable execution risk."The parent of the New York Stock Exchange also said the friendly $10.2 billion takeover bid from Germany's Deutsche Boerse announced in February is better for shareholders in the long term, and "significantly more likely" to be completed."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 Euronext Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels said in a statement.It is unclear how Nasdaq and ICE will respond to the rejection, and whether they might submit a new bid or take their earlier bid directly to NYSE Euronext shareholders.
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