The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. announced yesterday that it is planning to conduct an underwritten public offering of its common stock.

It anticipates completing the offering in the first quarter of 2006, subject to market conditions.

The exchange plans to sell its own shares in the offering, using approximately $105 million of proceeds from the offering to redeem preferred stock, with the rest to go for general corporate purposes.

It notes that the NASD has also expressed interest in the possibility of selling shares in the offering, to the extent market conditions allow. The size of the offering will be established once Nasdaq receives all responses from potential selling shareholders. The shares sold by the selling stockholders are currently issued shares and will not change the number of shares outstanding.