Euronext shareholders vote in favour of €10bn merger

EURONEXT shareholders yesterday approved overwhelmingly a $14 billion (€10.63bn) plan to merge the multinational European exchange operator with the New York Stock Exchange and form the first transatlantic bourse.

Around 98.2% of shareholders present or represented at the meeting backed the merger, a margin that surprised even Euronext chief executive Jean-Francois Theodore after several shareholders voiced opposition to the deal in recent weeks.

Mr Theodore told Reuters after the meeting: “This is an important step, but it (the deal) won’t be completed before March.”

The deal’s attractive financial terms and, for some shareholders, diminished concern about the risk of US regulatory spillover into European markets, explained the stronger-than-expected majority, analysts said.

The approval removes one of the final hurdles to the creation of a global exchange after a two-year industry battle to consolidate to cut costs and increase execution speed.

NYSE spokesman Rich Adamonis said the group welcomed the approval by Euronext shareholders. NYSE shareholders will vote on Wednesday and are widely expected to also approve the deal, which is key to the US group’s strategy to diversify its product base and geographic reach.

Euronext chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels said a tender offer could be expected within some days or weeks, after definitive approvals by European market regulators and the Dutch Finance Ministry, and approvals by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and French authorities.

The combined NYSE Euronext entity will be a market mammoth which Mr Theodore said would be at the forefront of further industry consolidation.

He said that the door was “still open” for Borsa Italiana to join NYSE Euronext.