Board of directors for Oslo Børs VPS recommends stockholders to go with Nasdaq – and the two largest already did.
Nasdaq is the leading stock exchange operator in the Nordics through its ownership of both the Stockholm and Helsinki exchanges. Now, as it appears, it stands a good chance of taking over their Norwegian counterpart too.
152 is more than 145
Euronext – which runs the stock exchanges of Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Dublin – placed a bid of 145 NOK per share on 24 December. Oslo Børs responded by inviting competing offers, and now puts its weight behind a bid by Nasdaq of 152 NOK per share.
The bid will be placed formally around 4 February, says Oslo Børs VPS in a statement Wednesday morning.
”The best alternative”
”Based on an overall evaluation of the factors considered relevant, the Board of Directors of Oslo Børs VPS considers that the offer is the best alternative for all stakeholders (including shareholders, issuers, investors, banks and investment banks operating in the Norwegian capital market) and therefore unanimously recommends that the shareholders of Oslo Børs VPS accept the offer and do not accept the offer to acquire the shares of Oslo Børs VPS made by Euronext NV,” writes the board.
35 percent already home
According to the statement, Nasdaq AB has already received irrevocable pre-acceptances from shareholders representing 35 percent of the total shares of Oslo Børs VPS.
These include Oslo Børs VPS’ two largest shareholders: DNB and KLP.
The Oslo Børs VPS group includes both the Oslo Børs exchange, with five marketplaces, and the VPS settlement activity. The group also comprises a technology division.