Big Board to Merge With a Leading Electronic Trading System

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/business/20cnd-deal.html?hp&ex=1114056000&en=bd4b2d3d91cca820&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Big Board to Merge With a Leading Electronic Trading System
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and JENNY ANDERSON

Published: April 20, 2005

The New York Stock Exchange, a symbol of global capitalism with its screaming floor traders and chaotic activity, announced this afternoon that it had agreed to acquire a leading electronic trading system, Archipelago Holdings, in a clear shift away from two centuries of floor-based trading.

The deal will merge Archipelago with the New York Stock Exchange, with the combined publicly traded company being known as the NYSE Group, the Big Board's chairman, John Thain, said at a televised news conference in Manhattan after the stock market closed.

"This is an essential step to maintaining our global competitiveness and leadership," he said.

Mr. Thain said that the Big Board's seat holders would own 70 percent of the combined company and that Archipelago shareholders would own 30 percent.

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[sabra]

1. In the financial market this is a very big deal!

[Career Prole]

2. NYSE to Merge With Archipelago Holdings (Yahoo link)

NEW YORK - The New York Stock Exchange will merge with Archipelago Holdings Inc., an electronic trading company, becoming a for-profit enterprise, the exchange announced Wednesday.

The not-for-profit NYSE's seat holders will receive $400 million in cash and 70 percent of the shares in the new company, while Archipelago's shareholders will retain 30 percent of the shares, NYSE Chief Executive John Thain said at a news conference.

"This is an essential step to maintaining our global competitiveness and leadership," NYSE Chief Executive John Thain said at a news conference.

The new entity, a holding company to be called NYSE Group Inc., will spin off the New York Stock Exchange's regulatory arm — recently invigorated after coming under intense criticism for failing to stem a floor-trading scandal — into a not-for-profit oversight entity.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&ncid=749&e=1&u=/ap/20050420/ap_on_bi_ge/nyse_archipelago

It is big, sabra...how'd they keep this a secret?

[Career Prole]

3. About Archipelago Holdings

Archipelago Holdings (PCX: AX) operates The Archipelago Exchange® (ArcaEx®) the first totally open all- electronic stock exchange in the United States. ArcaEx trades all Nasdaq-listed equity securities and exchange listed equity securities, including those listed on the New York Stock Exchange®, American Stock Exchange®, and Pacific Exchange®. In addition to offering core execution services, ArcaEx provides corporate clients with listing services and innovative data products. In 2004, Archipelago launched ArcaVision to provide corporate and trading clients with more transparent market data, analytical tools and access to market-wide and ArcaEx specific trading information. Archipelago Holdings completed its initial public offering in August 2004. For more information please visit http://www.archipelago.com.

ArcaEx's, past transaction performance is not necessarily indicative of its future results. Periodically, ArcaEX's transaction performance will experience fluctuations due to unforeseen factors effecting trading activity, including seasonality, general economic, political and market conditions, unforeseen market closures or other disruptions in trading. A description of the factors that may influence ArcaEx's volume of securities transactions are identified in Archipelago's Prospectus, dated August 12, 2004.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050316/nyw120_3.html