Borse Dubai said its $5.04 billion cash offer for Nordic stock exchange operator OMX AB has been approved by Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority.

The bid had also been recognized by the financial supervisory authorities in Iceland and Finland, Borse Dubai said.
The offer is conditional on Borse Dubai getting acceptances from shareholders together owning at least 50 percent of OMX, and constitutes an important piece of a complex deal struck between Borse Dubai and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. that will eventually see Nasdaq take over the Stockholm-based company.
On Wednesday, OMX's board urged its shareholders to accept Borse Dubai's cash bid.
Once the offer is completed, Nasdaq will then buy all of Borse Dubai's shares in OMX, through a combination of cash and new Nasdaq shares.
The acceptance period for the Borse Dubai offer starts on Jan. 8 and will be completed on Feb. 5. Settlement is expected to start Feb. 12 in Iceland and Feb. 15 in Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
(Source: BusinessWeek)