The head of IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) declined to comment on mounting speculation it would take part in an effort to break up the agreed merger of NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE).

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) is close to securing funding to make a hostile bid for the Big Board operator, offloading NYSE's Liffe European derivatives arm to finance the move, according to people familiar with the situation.

Jeff Sprecher, chairman and CEO of ICE, declined to confirm or deny speculation of its participation in any planned move.

Sprecher is at a major futures industry conference in Florida, the venue of his audacious move four years ago to break up an agreed deal between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Yrade.

ICE was ultimately outbid by CME, but taking a backseat to Nasdaq-led efforts to break up a NYSE-Deutsche Boerse deal and potentially acquiring Liffe would expand its European franchise into interest-rate derivatives at a time when rate risk is seen as increasing.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
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