New merger to create world's largest stock exchange

What’s in a name? Quite a bit if you’re two market giants negotiating the political minefield of an international merger — with headquarters in both New York and Frankfurt.

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext Tuesday announced a US$10.2-billion deal to create the world’s largest exchange operator. But they dodged a few key questions — one of the big ones being the new entity’s name.

With worries on both sides of the Atlantic about who will be in the driver’s seat, that name will have to appease a lot of national pride. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, for example, has been insisting that NYSE should come first in the name of the group. Both NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse said that each would keep its name in the country in which it operates.

But it may take several months to come up the group’s official title. “No decision has been made yet. It’s an emotional decision for everyone, let’s be honest about it,” NYSE chief executive Duncan Niederauer said at a press conference Tuesday. One thing it won’t be is “DB-NYSE Group,” Mr. Niederauer said — or NYSE-DB, we assume. “The Big Boerse” is also out, he said.

Source: Financial Post