Deutsche Börse’s shareholders edged closer to approving the exchange group’s merger with NYSE Euronext yesterday.
The German bourse says shareholders representing just over 60 percent of voting shares had backed the deal on Wednesday. Deutsche Börse needed 75 percent of shares to be deposited in a tender offer by the time the deadline passed late last night.
‘Please stay tuned for the final results,’ a spokesperson for the exchange says this morning.
The tender offer is the latest obstacle for the merger, which must also pass tough regulatory hurdles on both sides of the Atlantic.
Last week, NYSE Euronext shareholders approved the merger. At a special meeting in New York, 96 percent of votes cast backed the deal.
To encourage investors to support them, Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext last month both offered shareholders a special dividend if they approve the merger, worth €2 ($3) for every Deutsche Börse share and €0.94 for each NYSE Euronext share.
The proposed merger is the last big exchange deal standing, following a string of collapsed deals. Last month, the London Stock Exchange and TMX Group called off their proposed merger after the Canadian exchange failed to get enough shareholders to back the deal.
In April, the Australian Stock Exchange was blocked from joining up with Singapore Exchange, after Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board decided the deal would not be in the country’s national interest.
