NYSE Euronext Rejects Joint Nasdaq-ICE Bid in Favor of Germany's Deutsche Boerse (NYX, NDAQ, ICE)

NYSE Euronext's NYX board of directors have rejected a $11.3 billion bid from Nasdaq NDAQ and IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. ICE in favor of a $10.2 billion deal with Germany's Deutsche Boerse, it was announced Sunday. Commenting that the Nasdaq & ICE deal was "strategically unattractive, with unacceptable execution risk", NYSE Euronext saw the Deutsche Boerse deal being "significantly more likely" to be completed. According to a Reuters report, "NYSE Euronext directors were concerned that Nasdaq and ICE had failed to line up committed bank financing for their bid, and that a takeover could saddle the combined entities with too much debt, a person familiar with the board's thinking said." NYSE Euronext Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels noted that "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." Nasdaq and ICE had bid NYSE Euronext at $42.50 per share, 12% above Deutsche Boerse's bid. In a separate statement, Deutsche Boerse said the proposed NYSE Euronext merger remains "on track" to close by the end of the year. Shares of NYSE Euronext closed at $38.70 on Friday, down $0.82 for the day. NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. finished lower by $0.62, to $28.45. Shares of the IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. closed at $120.55 on Friday, down $1.71.