OMX shares rise on DIFC rival bid reports

zoom

Shares in Nordic and Baltic bourse owner OMX rose on Monday after a report that the owner of a Dubai exchange was preparing a rival offer to a bid by U.S. exchange Nasdaq.

The Web site of London's Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday that the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) had funding in place to bid as much as 250 Swedish crowns ($37.66) per OMX share. DIFC owns the Dubai International Financial Exchange.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) declined to comment on Monday on a media report it was preparing to bid for Nordic stock market group OMX AB.

"We don't comment on our investment strategy," Nasser al-Shaali, chief executive of the DIFC, said in Dubai.

A bid by Nasdaq Stock Market Inc, the largest U.S. electronic stock exchange, was worth roughly $3.6 billion or around 199 crowns per share on Monday.

At 0905 GMT shares in OMX were up 3.3% at 217 crowns against a rise of 0.3% in the wider Stockholm market.

OMX owns and runs exchanges in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and the Baltic states. It also supplies exchange technology to around 60 bourses.

One analyst said it was likely that a rival to Nasdaq's bid for OMX would emerge, though he could not comment on DIFC.

"It (the rumour of a bid from Dubai) was there right from the start and now it's been quiet for a while, and I believe there are still those who are going over the numbers of a possible bid," the analyst, who declined to be named, said.

Competition from more nimble electronic rivals, a changing regulatory environment and demand for global trading and lower costs has pushed mainly reluctant exchanges to consolidate over the last few years.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM