IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) told shareholders of NYSE Euronext (NYX) Monday to demand more time to review the proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE), warning that the Big Board had "rushed to judgment" on the deal.

Nasdaq OMX and ICE, which last week outlined a hostile offer to take over NYSE Euronext, also renewed calls for investors to put pressure on NYSE Euronext's board to meet with its uninvited suitors, after the company twice rejected overtures from ICE and Nasdaq OMX last month.

"Faced with a year-long review and serious competition issues in Europe for the proposed Deutsche Boerse transaction, NYSE Euronext stockholders are being asked to take a leap of faith by voting for the proposed Deutsche Boerse transaction on July 7th," representatives of ICE and Nasdaq OMX wrote in the Monday letter.

A spokesman for NYSE Euronext declined to comment.

Monday is the record date for owning shares of NYSE Euronext in order to be eligible to vote on the agreed combination with Deutsche Boerse. The letter comes as both NYSE Euronext and the ICE-Nasdaq team have ramped up rhetoric about the future ownership of the New York Stock Exchange, wooing investors who will decide on an agreed merger with Deutsche Boerse announced in mid-February.

That deal values NYSE Euronext at about $9.9 billion, as per midmorning share values. The Nasdaq-ICE proposal puts an approximate $11 billion value on the Big Board parent.

NYSE Euronext has cast Nasdaq OMX and ICE as spoilers of its planned deal with Deutsche Boerse, arguing that combining the listings businesses of NYSE and Nasdaq OMX will not pass a U.S. antitrust review, while a meeting would accomplish little beyond giving competitors a glimpse of NYSE Euronext's inner workings.

Monday's letter from ICE and Nasdaq accused NYSE Euronext's board of "stonewalling" in its refusal to talk, and questioned the truthfulness of increased synergies detailed two weeks ago by NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer.

The joint partners also criticized NYSE Euronext for pushing its investors to vote on a combination that will have little clarity from regulators for months, and as much as a year. The merger of NYSE and Deutsche Boerse's European derivatives markets is seen bringing a lengthy probe.

"As a stockholder of NYSE Euronext, you won't know on July 7th whether regulatory approvals for the Deutsche Boerse transaction can be obtained or, even if obtained, the conditions or remedies regulators may require in order for the transaction to close, which may reduce the value of the combined organization," representatives of Nasdaq OMX and ICE wrote in the letter.

Niederauer in the past month has said that it is not uncommon for shareholders to vote on deals without full knowledge of regulatory approval, and that advance work done by the two companies on the matter have given them confidence it will be approved. NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse have stuck by their aim of closing the deal by the end of the year.

NYSE Euronext shares were recently 0.2% higher at $40.04. Nasdaq OMX shares were up 0.2% at $26.64 and ICE was up 0.3% at $118.00. Deutsche Boerse shares were 0.1% higher in electronic trade at 56.26 euros ($80.75).

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