NYSE, Euronext Cooperation Pleases Investors, Assuages Regulators

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NYSE, Euronext Agree to Split Board; Shares Rally [Bloomberg]

Summary: News that NYSE Group and Euronext agreed to split the combined board evenly upon their merger sent NYSE's shares soaring 9.74% to reach all-time intra-day and closing highs of $105.12 and $104.60, respectively. Each party will have 11 members on the board. This move is seen assuaging regulators' concerns including France's Finance Minister, who previously questioned the corporate governance of the merged entity. Regarding the rise in NYSE's share price, the chairman of a Toronto-based asset management firm commented, "The more the stock goes up, the more likely it is the deal will happen without NYSE having to sweeten its offer, and it just feeds on itself."
Related links: Media coverage: Forbes-AFX Paris newswire and Reuters. Commentary: Exchange Stocks: Beware The Bear • NYSE: Gains Are Far From Automatic -- Barron's • Deutsche Börse Drops Euronext Takeover Bid, Clearing Way for NYSE Group • Nymex's IPO: $34 Million Left on the Table? -- Exchanges' P/E Ratios • A Unified, Global Stock Exchange May Be Approaching.
Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: NYSE Group (NYX) • Competitors: Nasdaq (NDAQ), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Int'l Securities Exchange Hldgs (ISE), NYMEX Holdings (NMX) • ETFs: iShares Dow Jones US Broker-Dealers (IAI), streetTRACKS KBW Capital Markets (KCE)

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