Nasdaq buys Nordic bourse owner

Nasdaq Stock Market has agreed to buy Nordic bourse owner OMX for $3.7 billion, the two companies announced today.

Nasdaq Stock Market has agreed to buy Nordic bourse owner OMX for $3.7 billion, the two companies announced today.

In a bid backed by the board of OMX and major shareholders in both companies, Nasdaq is offering 0.502 new Nasdaq shares and 94.3 Swedish crowns (€10.25) in cash for each OMX share.

The new company will be called Nasdaq OMX Group.

The companies said that, based on Nasdaq's May 23rd closing price, the offer valued OMX at 208.1 crowns (€22.63) per share, or 25.1 billion crowns (€2.73 billion).

READ MORE

They said this was a 19 per cent premium to OMX's May 23rd closing price of 174.5 crowns.

Trading in both Nasdaq and OMX was suspended today.