DEUTSCHE BÖRSE is in advanced talks with NYSE Euronext as part of an all-stock deal that would create the world’s largest exchanges operator by revenues and profits.
A deal would see Deutsche Börse shareholders holding about 60 per cent, and NYSE Euronext shareholders approximately 40 per cent of the equity of a combined holding company, based in the Netherlands.
Deutsche Börse shares were up 1.7 per cent at € 58.42 just before trading was halted, while NYSE Euronext shares were up 5.1 per cent to $39.13 in New York.
The prospect of a merger comes only hours after the London Stock Exchange agreed an all-share merger with TMX Group, operator of Canada’s largest stock exchange, creating a platform with the world’s largest number of mining company listings at a time of surging commodity prices.
A potential deal would create a transatlantic powerhouse in clearing as regulators in both Washington and Brussels are pressing ahead with reform of central clearing for over-the-counter credit derivatives.
Results from the world’s largest stock exchanges this week, such as NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX and Intercontinental Exchange, have highlighted lucrative new services , while traditional cash equities businesses have suffered from falling stock market trading volume and fierce competition from electronic trading venues.
“Summarising a merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse as a defensive move to counter the alternative trading firms’ gain in market share would be oversimplifying,” said Axel Pierron, senior vice-president at Celent. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011
