Nasdaq has urged OMX shareholders "to take no action" following reports that Borse Dubai is looking to derail its acquisition of OMX by purchasing a 25% stake in the Nordic and Baltic market operator.
Nasdaq released a short statement following reports that Borse Dubai - a holding company for the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) - is in the process of purchasing OMX ordinary shares at an exercise price of SKr230 by way of a bookbuilding process with selected investors.
Borse Dubai says that no share purchases will be completed until it has amassed at least 25% of OMX shares.
However Nasdaq says it remains "fully committed to its recommended offer for 100% of OMX" and urged OMX shareholders not to take action with respect to the "conditional offer" from Dubai.
Rumours of a potential counter-bid for OMX from Dubai first surfaced in late May, shortly after Nasdaq announced the proposed takeover, and were helped by the fact that Per Larsson, former president of OM Group, is now CEO of DIFX. Coincidental with the OMX share-grab, Larsson was this morning named as the new CEO of Borse Dubai.
OMX shares shares rose over six per cent on the back of the news and were trading at SKr231.00 this afternoon - above the current value of Nasdaq's stock-and-cash offer, which is now worth around SKr200 per share.