Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. has failed in its bid to buy the London Stock Exchange Group PLC, its second attempt on the LSE.
Nasdaq said that less than 1% of the LSE’s shareholders had tendered their shares by Saturday’s deadline.
The Nasdaq revealed Saturday that it had received acceptances worth just 0.41% of the British bourse’s ordinary shares. Even added to the 28.75% share holding the New York-based exchange built up by buying in the market in recent months, that remained well short of the 50% it needed to begin taking control.
Revealing the results after a formal deadline for shareholders to accept the US$24.35 per share bid had passed, Nasdaq stuck by its claim that the LSE was overvalued.
A combination of the Nasdaq and LSE would have created the world’s second trans-Atlantic exchange with about 6,400 listed companies carrying a total market value of US$11.8 trillion.
Nasdaq is now barred under British takeover law from renewing its bid for a year and declined to say Saturday what it planned to do with the 29.16% stake in the London bourse it retains.