Nasdaq, ICE Call off NYSE Takeover Bid
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Upendra [2011-05-20]
Nasdaq OMX Group and Intercontinental exchange (ICE) announced Monday to withdraw their takeover bid for NYSE Euronext, saying that the deal could clearly not pass through antitrust scrutiny.
In an announcement jointly released by Nasdaq OMX and ICE on Monday, the two exchange operators said that after discussions with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, they decided to pull out the joint proposal they made on April 1 to acquire NYSE Euronext.
"We took the decision to withdraw our offer when it became clear that we would not be successful in securing regulatory approval for our proposal despite offering a variety of substantial remedies, including the sale of the NYSE SRO and related businesses." said Nasdaq OMX CEO Bob Greifeld.
NYSE Eruonext on Monday acknowledged the decision by the two companies on Monday. Duncan L. Niederauer, the Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext reiterated in a statement that they would maintain the combination with Deutsche Boerse to create the world' s premier exchange group.
Nasdaq and ICE had offered a 11.3 billion dollar bid for NYSE Euronext on April 1, which NYSE said no and reiterated to stick with previous merger agreement with Germany's Deutsche Boerse, which was valued 10.2 billion dollars.
The two partners later called on discussions of the deal which they thought were more beneficial for the shareholders of both sides, with the board of NYSE Eruonext, but was also turned down.