London Stock Exchange rejects new Nasdaq bid

The New York Stock Exchange owner, NYSE Group Inc., agreed in June to pay $9.96 billion for Euronext, which operates the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon exchanges. The bid subsequently rose to $13 billion.

The combined sales of Nasdaq and LSE would be about $1.4 billion, based on their last set of full-year results. That compares with about $2.3 billion for NYSE-Euronext.

Nasdaq’s Greifeld said he wasn’t concerned about last week’s news that seven major investment banks — Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley and UBS AG — plan to launch their own European equities exchange next year.

“It’s important to note that Nasdaq was not born through a historical monopoly. It has had to compete. We clearly have our competitive instincts engaged,” Greifeld told reporters.

Greifeld said Nasdaq would cut transaction fees as trading volumes rise.

“That will be a hallmark of the combined entity,” he said.

Analyst David Buik of Cantor Index said the investment banks’ plan was a strong reason for a Nasdaq-LSE tie-up.

“The ramifications of dismissing Nasdaq’s overtures could be serious,” Buik said, adding that bourses must cut their fees to remain competitive.

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