MERGER NEWS

Global Finance, Mar 2007 by Green, Paula L

European bourses left out of the Euronext-NYSE deal are already scrambling for merger opportunities to keep their competitive edge.

OMX, the operator of stock exchanges in seven Nordic and Baltic countries, was getting ready to hold talks with officials at the Ljubljana Stock Exchange regarding the possible purchase of the Slovenian bourse. And Borsa Italians, which runs the Milan Stock Exchange, is emitting sparks for its east European rivals after its plan for a link with Euronext and Deutsche Burse fell through last year.

"There's no other option," says David Cox, chief research officer at Financial Insights, referring to the move toward mergers. He adds that the Deutsche Börse, spurned by officials at the London Stock Exchange and NYSE during two separate attempts, finds itself "in a real pickle."

The transatlantic tussle between the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq appears to be winding down as Nasdaq declined to up its latest share offer for the British bourse. Late last year the upstart US exchange made its third unsolicited bid for the London trading house. Officials at the LSE continued to reject Nasdaq's "wholly inadequate offer." Nasdaq already holds a 28.75% stake in the British trading house.-PLG