Nasdaq to pursue NYSE bid to the "endgame"

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) will pursue its bid for crosstown rival NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) to the "endgame" and is willing to battle for up to another year, its chief executive said.

Robert Greifeld added on Wednesday that he and partner IntercontinentalExchange (ICE.N) could put a "fully reflective" offer on the table if the Big Board parent reveals its detailed financial records to them.

Nasdaq this month joined ICE to bid $11.1 billion for the New York Stock Exchange parent company, which earlier this year agreed to be acquired by Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE) for $9.8 billion.

Though NYSE's board rejected the higher offer from Nasdaq and ICE, the pair sweetened their bid on Tuesday with a promise to pay NYSE Euronext $350 million if regulators blocked a merger -- a pledge meant to ease the board's antitrust worries and draw them to the negotiating table.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/us-nasdaqomx-idUSTRE73J25M20110420