NYSE’s Owners Become Biggest Losers on German Embrace: Real M&A

Duncan Niederauer’s embrace of Deutsche Boerse AG is transforming NYSE Euronext’s “merger of equals” into the worst takeover in America.

Since the owner of the New York Stock Exchange agreed in February to sell itself in return for equity in Deutsche Boerse, the value of the $9.53 billion agreement has plummeted by 23 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The decline is the largest of any all-stock takeover worth $1 billion or more. The offer is now below NYSE Euronext’s share price before the two venues said they were in talks to merge.