Nyse Euronext's board has rejected a takeover bid from Nasdaq OMX and IntercontinentalExchange, branding the offer risky and "strategically unattractive" and reaffirming its commitment to completing a deal with Deutsche Boerse.
Nasdaq OMX and ICE moved to hijack the $9.7 billion Nyse Euronext-Deutsche Boerse plans earlier this month, with a $11.3 billion counteroffer.
Under the deal, ICE would take on Nyse Euronext's futures businesses with Nasdaq OMX owning the rest, including exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon, as well as the US options business.
In a statement, the Nyse Euronext board says it rejects "the unsolicited and highly conditional proposal" that includes "unacceptable execution risk" in favour of a Deutsche Boerse deal that is "consistent with the long-term strategy".
Jan-Michiel Hesselsm chariman, Nyse Euronext, says: "Breaking up Nyse Euronext, burdening the pieces with high levels of debt, and destroying its invaluable human capital, would be a strategic mistake in terms of where the global markets are going, and is clearly not in the best interests of our shareholders."
The rejected suitors hit back, saying the Nyse Euronext board "without engaging in any dialogue or discussion, has summarily elected to deny its stockholders the opportunity to benefit from a clearly superior proposal to the announced transaction with Deutsche Boerse, a proposed transaction that is indisputably financially inferior".
Robert Greifeld, CEO, Nasdaq OMX says: "The feedback we have received from Nyse Euronext stockholders is very positive, and we would expect Nyse Euronext would, at the very least, meet with us and our advisors to discuss the merits of the proposed combination."