4th UPDATE: Nasdaq, ICE Step Up Case To Buy NYSE Euronext
19 Aprile 2011 - 10:19PM
Dow Jones News
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc.
(ICE) on Tuesday intensified their pursuit of NYSE Euronext (NYX),
acquiring shares in their target and improving their takeover plan
with a break-up fee and committed funding.
The share purchase will help them advance efforts to address
antitrust concerns with regulators while the $2 billion gap between
their proposal and the Big Board operator's agreed merger with
Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) may intensify pressure on NYSE Euronext
to reconsider the plan it rejected a week ago.
ICE Chief Executive Jeff Sprecher said the partners plan to keep
pace with advances in the rival combination, though he said any
hostile move on NYSE or a raised offer isn't part of their
planning. Their proposed $350 million reverse break-up fee matches
the insurance against regulatory roadblocks offered by the existing
Deutsche Boerse plan.
"We intend to stay on the same clock," said Sprecher in an
interview Tuesday.
ICE and Nasdaq on Tuesday formally submitted their proposal to
NYSE Euronext's board of directors, which last week turned down the
rival suitors on strategic grounds. Addressing regulatory risks
tied to the combination of nearly all U.S. share listings under a
Nasdaq-NYSE, while offering a termination fee payable to the Big
Board operator if the deal doesn't go through, aims to win the
support of NYSE Euronext investors.
NYSE Euronext said its board would consider the proposed
agreement "in due course." Deutsche Boerse said it remains
committed to its merger proposal, which it considers "the best
possible combination in the industry." The German exchange operator
said it continues to move forward with its integration plans under
the merger agreement.
Buying up $66 million in NYSE Euronext stock--about 0.7% of
shares outstanding--allows ICE and Nasdaq OMX to move forward with
competitive reviews of their proposal. The purchase could also
provide a foundation for a hostile-takeover approach, though
Sprecher said this isn't the intent.
"Our letters to the board are friendly," he said, though he
added that the dismissive response from NYSE's board hasn't been
particularly shareholder friendly.
He said ICE and Nasdaq don't intend to file a proxy ahead of
NYSE Euronext's April 28 shareholder meeting, or to take legal
action to get their deal considered.
ICE and Nasdaq are pushing to build support among NYSE Euronext
shareholders for their proposal, which involves dividing the
company's equities-linked and futures businesses between the two
companies, while addressing regulatory issues around combining
nearly all U.S. share listings under a single roof.
Nasdaq OMX CEO Bob Greifeld said Tuesday that meetings with the
U.S. Justice Department began last week, whose staff is currently
sifting through data. The questions around European
derivatives-market competition facing NYSE's deal with Deutsche
Boerse are "infinitely more complex" than those confronting the
Nasdaq-ICE proposal in the U.S., he said.
"Ours is about market share," Greifeld said. "Theirs is about
market share and market structure."
The exchange executives said they aren't thinking about raising
their bid, which they estimated values NYSE Euronext at $42.67 a
share as of Monday's close, or a 21% premium to the rival offer
from Deutsche Boerse. ICE and Nasdaq said Tuesday they have secured
$3.8 billion in committed financing to fund their offer.
Those commitments are good for one year, according to two people
with knowledge of the matter, laying out a longer timetable for
wrangling over the deal.
The breakup fee proffered Tuesday by Nasdaq and ICE closely
matches the EUR250 million, or $357 million, termination fee agreed
by Deutsche Boerse and NYSE in mid-February. If the ICE-Nasdaq
approach wins out, the two companies would split that fee evenly
between them, according to Greifeld.
"We're optimistic that the board will step up and do what the
board should do," said Greifeld. "We have committed financing and
they have some strong independent directors that will come to the
right conclusion."
Nasdaq and ICE have agreed to split payment of their own $350
million reverse breakup fee if it is paid out, according to a
person familiar with the matter.
Should the board of NYSE Euronext continue to overlook the
premium offered by ICE and Nasdaq, Greifeld said the company could
face legal action from shareholders, some of whom were angered
after NYSE Euronext turned down the unsolicited proposal.
NYSE Euronext shares recently were 0.8% higher at $38.61. Nasdaq
OMX and ICE shares were both lower, ICE down 1.1% at $118.50 and
Nasdaq off 0.3% at $27.49. Deutsche Boerse shares were down 0.1% at
EUR52.74.
-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117;
jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
--Matt Jarzemsky and William Launder contributed to this
article.
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