Seat prices perking up at NYSE; Buyers bank on IPO, ownership options.(News)(Brief Article)

Crain's New York Business, March, 2005 by Kelly, Bruce

Byline: bruce kelly The price of a seat on the New York Stock Exchange hit and held high ground last week, rebounding sharply over lows set in January. An NYSE seat sold for $1.5 million on Tuesday, and another sold two days later for the same price. Seat prices had dropped to $975,000 earlier this year-the first time since 1995 that the price of a seat had dropped below $1 million.

NYSE seats confer trading rights. Buyers may have paid higher seat prices in anticipation of changes at the NYSE. "I think it reflects that there is going to be movement to a for-profit model,'' says NYSE member James Rothenberg, a New York attorney. This change has to occur before there is any serious move toward an initial public offering, he says. Two reasons for rising...

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