US securities exchanges Nasdaq and ICE have boosted their bid to buy NYSE Euronext in a battle to top a rival offer from Deutsche Boerse and create the world's biggest exchange.
NASDAQ OMX and ICE cash-and stock bid values NYSE Euronext at $42.67 per share, the companies said, raising their rejected initial bid of $42.50 per share.
The offer is 21%, or $2 billion, above Deutsche Boerse's merger proposal valued at $35.29 per share, the two US exchange operators said.
'The proposal remains superior by a significant and inescapable margin,' the companies said in a statement.
The bidders also added a $350m 'reverse break-up fee' which NYSE Euronext would receive if the proposal fails to win required antitrust or competition approvals.
Nasdaq and the Intercontinental Exchange made an $11.3 billion bid for NYSE Euronext on April 1.
The proposed acquisition of markets in New York, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and Lisbon would keep Wall Street's fabled exchange under US ownership.
f the bid is successful, NYSE Euronext would be broken up, with its Liffe derivatives business going to ICE while NASDAQ OMX - best known for trading the world's leading technology firms - would take control of the stock markets in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon.
The bid is also a play to US nationalist sentiment, after the Deutsche Boerse move sparked complaints that the New York Stock Exchange, an icon of American capitalist might known to television viewers around the world for its hectic trading floor, would come under the control of foreigners.
Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced February 15 that they would merge to create the world's biggest exchange by revenues and a major player in derivatives trading across two continents.
While both parties emphasized a merger of equals, the combined Netherlands-incorporated firm would be owned 60% by existing Deutsche Boerse shareholders and 40% by NYSE Euronext shareholders, and the German company would dominate the new board.
