Nasdaq makes $ 4.1 billion bid for the London Stock Exchange
( Ed: the one Scrooge traded at  : )


 Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. offered to buy London Stock Exchange Plc for 2.4 billion pounds ($4.1 billion) to create the first transatlantic stock market.
LSE rejected the bid, the third approach it has spurned in 15 months
 

The offer gives Nasdaq Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld, 48, a jump on NYSE Group Inc.'s
John Thain, who two days ago said his next step for the New York Stock Exchange will be international expansion.

The combination would create a single marketplace for stocks such as Microsoft Corp. and BP Plc, and may give foreign companies a way to tap American investors without having to meet U.S. regulatory requirements.

Thain, 50, said on March 8, after completing the purchase of Archipelago Holdings Inc. and taking NYSE Group public, that he wanted to expand in Europe. First, he needs to finish integrating the New York Stock Exchange and Archipelago and complete the rollout of the Big Board's hybrid trading system

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is prepared to discuss how best to oversee a combined exchange in the event of a transatlantic merger, SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins said in an interview on Feb. 1. Under Nasdaq's proposal, the LSE would have a separate board of directors and remain under the regulatory oversight of the England's Financial Services Authority.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&refer=news_index&sid=a2_HTXrj2ja0