Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. bought $219.4 million of London Stock Exchange Plc shares, raising its stake to 18.7 percent and strengthening its hand against potential rival bidders.
Nasdaq, which settled for 15 percent of LSE last month after its takeover offer was rejected, bought 9.72 million shares for $22.57 each, the New York- based company said in a statement Wednesday. The purchase makes Nasdaq’s holdings three times larger than the LSE’s second-biggest shareholder.
By raising its total stake in the LSE to 47.9 million shares, Nasdaq may increase pressure on its competitors, including NYSE Group Inc., which has said it’s in merger talks with “significant industry participants.” Euronext NV, operator of the Paris and Amsterdam stock exchanges, said Wednesday it abandoned 15 months of takeover talks with the LSE.
“If Nasdaq is worried about NYSE, then it makes sense to take a greater stake,” said Richard Grossman, an LSE shareholder and a director of Leeds, England-based Redmayne Bentley Stockbrokers. “A higher stake means anyone who wants to come in would have to have an agreement with Nasdaq.”
LSE chief executive officer Clara Furse rejected a $4.4 billion takeover offer in March from Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld, who wants to create the first transatlantic stock market.
