NYSE Rejects NASDAQ/ICE; Chad Ridgeway Seen at Meeting

Apparently he must have been at the NYSE board meeting evaluating the NASDAQ/ICE bid over the weekend. Above, we find him talking to a very large NYSE shareholder as he stepped outside from the yacht salon,…errr boardroom.

“Yes, I know that the NASDAQ/ICE bid is $11.3 billion, which is 12% more than the Deutsche Bourse bid…”

 

“Yes I know the NASDAQ/ICE bid has cash in it and is not ALL stock like the Deutsche Bourse deal”

 

“Yes I know that NASDAQ/ICE say they will cut costs for shareholders and exploit the synergies in HALF the time Deutsche Bourse says they will (18 months vs. 36 months)”

 

“But what are you going to do; start making deals with shareholder needs front and center? What about the Parachutes? What about the Fun? The fun???”

So you now have heard. The NYSE formally rejected the richer, cash-inclusive, deal from NASDAQ/ICE.

Said NYSE’s Duncan Niederauer, “It’s hard to call it an offer because it’s a loosely worded proposal that was, in our minds, an empty vessel,” he said in an interview. “We had a strategy. The combination with Deutsche Boerse is consistent with that strategy. A dismantling of the company is not. End of story.”

Said Euronext’s Jan-Michiel Hessels, “Breaking up NYSE Euronext, burdening the pieces with high levels of debt, and destroying its invaluable human capital, would be a strategic mistake in terms of where the global markets are going, and is clearly not in the best interests of our shareholders,”

Directors also worried that a NASDAQ-NYSE merger could cost too many jobs in New York City, said an insider requesting anonymity. Given the fierce, years-long rivalry between NYSE, NASDAQ, and their respective executives, we cannot help but wonder if high on the list of problems with the NASDAQ/ICE bid was whether it showed current NYSE executives “The Love” like the Deutsche Bourse did.

Would the NASDAQ/ICE allow Duncan Niederauer to remain head? How would the NASDAQ/ICE deal address the NYSE Euronext Executives Golden Parachutes? Remember, should the Deutsche Bourse/NYSE deal die, Mr. Niederauer would get $34.3 million in breakup fees, and Mr. Liebowitz would get $18.4 million. Perhaps those are the kinds of details that Mr. Niederauer wants to see when he hints at how the NASDAQ/ICE proposal is lacking details.

Hostile bid here we come!

By the way, Dem are some nice paydays and rewards for folks at the helm of a 60%-plus decline in stock price. Just sayin’…

 

Where we left off 4:00pm EST:

INDU               12,380.05                                -29.44

SPX                 1,328.17                                  -5.34

CCMP              2,780.42                                  -15.72

Futures now at 7:00 am EST:

DJA                             +32 

SPA                             +3.50

NDA                            +8.00

Key Data out today:

 

None

 

Since the prior close, some key stories:

 

–       US Futures gain before Alcoa earnings (Bloomberg).

–       IMF lowers US Growth Forecasts.

–       Insider Trading in China Thrives with Selectively Disclosed Economic Data.

–       New Japan earthquake and Tsunami warnings has that market weaker this morning.

–       Temporary budget deal keeps our government open. I predicted this! I win! Duh Winning! WSJ Story

–       Schneider Electric (no not the guy from One Day At A Time) weighing bid for TYC.

–       Warner Music being bought out?

–       NYSE rejects NASDAQ/ICE

–       Treasury to delay report on currency manipulation. Marketwatch Story here

–       Pimco’s Bill Gross increased his short position on US Treasuries in March.

–       Libya guns blood blah blah blah.

–       Syria  guns blood blah blah blah.

–       Facebook has reached a deal with Baidu to create a jointly owned social network in China. I don’t even know where to begin. If one is concerned about privacy on the CIA developed and funded Facebook in the USA, I can only imagine the privacy issues around the Chinese version. But hey… LIKE Button!

–       Barron’s positive on MSG, TXN, and CPB and cautious on GCAP. 

–       Goldman cutting US Asset managers neutral from attractive.

 

 

Earnings:

 

Pre-market:  None

After the Close: Alcoa

 

Significant Movers This Morning:

WMG +10%, AMMD + 32%, ENDP +7%, VVUS +6%, BIIB +6%, CBE -10%, BHE -10%