NYSE's CEO: rivals trying to disrupt, discredit us

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NYSE Euronext
NYX.N
$38.32
-0.69-1.77%
04/18/2011

Deutsche Boerse AG
DB1GN.DE
€52.86
-1.24-2.29%
04/18/2011

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc
NDAQ.O
$27.57
-0.64-2.27%
04/18/2011

By Jonathan Spicer and Phil Wahba
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:14pm EDT
(Reuters) - NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) CEO Duncan Niederauer accused competitors of trying to disrupt, distract and discredit his company, the latest jab in the increasingly bitter battle for control of the Big Board.

The head of the New York Stock Exchange's parent company on Monday defended his friendly merger agreement with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE), saying it -- and no other deal plan -- would create a "truly pan-European exchange."

Niederauer's comments come less than three weeks after rivals Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (ICE.N) made an unsolicited, higher bid to take over NYSE Euronext and split it between them.

"While other competitors in the landscape may be talking about ways to disrupt us, distract us, or to discredit us, we don't think dismantling our company, making it more regional, is the right strategy," Niederauer said at the Paris Europlace New York Financial Forum, hosted by the NYSE.

"Contrary to what you may have been hearing from others recently, it's our merger that creates a truly pan-European exchange," he said of the Deutsche Boerse deal.

The battle for the company that runs the iconic NYSE intensified a week ago, when its board unanimously rejected the $11.3 billion offer from Nasdaq and ICE as too risky and counter to its strategy, and restated its support for the $10.2 billion German tie-up.

Executives at the four exchanges have since turned to NYSE shareholders to convince them their respective plans are better. The two proposed deals face tough antitrust reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, complicating things for investors betting on which deal -- if any -- will prevail.

Niederauer would be CEO if Deutsche Boerse ends up acquiring NYSE Euronext and creating the world's largest exchange operator. He would very likely leave if cross-town rival Robert Greifeld of Nasdaq ultimately wins out.

Niederauer's comments, in a brief speech introducing another speaker at the conference, suggest the public relations campaign will ramp up.

Combining with Deutsche Boerse "puts us we think in a better position than any other exchange in the world to compete for clients, to serve clients and to really extend our global reach," he said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Phil Wahba, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Gunna Dickson and Tim Dobbyn)