New York stock exchange shareholders back Euronext merger
The stamp of approval by the owners of the New York exchange came a day after Euronext shareholders gave their seal of approval to the alliance in Amsterdam.
"Approximately 99.7 percent of NYSE Group, Inc. shareholders who voted have approved the exchange's proposed combination with Euronext NV," the NYSE Group said in a statement.
The fabled New York exchange, the country's oldest, said the transatlantic deal would forge "the first truly global exchange group." It will also create the world's largest trading forums.
"This is an historic day for NYSE Group and reaffirms our leadership position in global financial markets," said NYSE Group chief executive John Thain.
The U.S.-European combination was backed by 98.2 percent of Euronext shareholders.
The deal marks a victory for the NYSE over the Deutsche Bourse, which operates the Frankfurt stock market. The Deutsche Bourse withdrew from the bidding for Euronext in November.
It also marks the first merger of a North American and a European bourse.
Stock market operators have been racing to broaden their reach and cut their costs as investors seek more globalized trading opportunities and cheaper transactions costs.
The rapid globalization of the industry has also been accelerated by the move to electronic trading platforms at the expense of raucous trading floors, although the NYSE still maintains a trading floor at its Wall Street headquarters.
But further industry consolidation appears a fairly sure bet.
NYSE shareholders backed the deal a day after the London Stock Exchange urged its shareholders to reject a 5.5 billion dollar hostile takeover bid by U.S. stock market operator Nasdaq which primarily lists technology companies.
The newly-minted NYSE-Euronext will be worth an estimated 29.1 billion dollars (22.3 billion euros).
The exchanges will oversee a 25.8 trillion dollar (19.5 trillion euro) combined total global market capitalization of their listed companies, according to the NYSE.
Average daily trading volumes will be in the tens of billions of dollars.
The six-year-old Euronext exchange was born from a three-way merger of exchanges in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Euronext acquired the London-based derivatives market, LIFFE, and merged with the Portuguese exchange in 2002.
Although European and U.S. companies have been able to list their shares in one another's respective markets, traders and investors have not had a forum to trade such shares in a single marketplace owned by a common operator.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.
The NYSE Group's shares were down 1.53 dollars at 101.83 dollars in late morning trading.