The Irish Stock Exchange is looking at ways of allowing member firms to sell their holdings but is not preparing to float, the exchange's chief executive, Tom Healy, said yesterday.

"We're probably too small and we don't need the money," Mr Healy told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Zürich.

Mr Healy also said the exchange had received no takeover approaches, even though the industry as a whole is engaged in a wave of consolidation.

"A corporate event is a good bit of time into the future . . . some years," he said.

Mr Healy confirmed, however, that the exchange was considering changing its ownership structure to make it easier for member firms to sell their holdings. "It would be very easy," he said, without elaborating on the nature of such changes.

It is most likely that the exchange would move away from its current status as a company limited by guarantee to an entity with share capital that could then be traded in some fashion.

Such a shift would require a change to the exchange's memorandum and articles of association and would need regulatory approval.

The exchange would also need to work out how best to distribute shares among its 19 full member firms, including brokers such as Davy, NCB, Merrion and Bloxham. Its overall value would be well above €100 million, according to observers.

Mr Healy said, as one of Europe's smaller exchanges, the Irish market was in a position to watch large players such as Euronext and Deutsche Börse consolidate.

"We can afford to watch and see how it all shakes out," he said.

Pressure mounted on Deutsche Börse chief executive Reto Francioni yesterday not to overbid for Euronext, which has snubbed the German bourse and announced plans to merge with the New York Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile Euronext, which runs the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon stock exchanges, said its talks on bringing Milan's Borsa Italiana into the fold would continue.

(Additional reporting, Reuters)