The NASDAQ Stock Market Inc said on Tuesday it had acquired a stake of nearly 15 percent in the operator of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The New York-based NASDAQ said in a statement that it had acquired more than 35.4 million shares of the London Stock Exchange PLC from Threadneedle Asset Management Ltd and another nearly 2.7 million shares to take its holding to 38.1 million shares, or 14.99 percent, of the LSE's outstanding shares. It said the stake was worth £447.7 million (US$781.7 million).
The LSE has rebuffed NASDAQ and several others potential suitors in the past few years, saying their offers inadequately valued the exchange.
LSE officials said they had no immediate comment on NASDAQ's move.
Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd, Germany's Deutsche Bourse AG and Sweden's OM Gruppen have all failed in their tilts at Europe's oldest stock exchange.
NASDAQ had previously offered £9.50 per share to gain control of the LSE. It dropped the £2.4 billion bid without explanation late last month.
At the same time, NASDAQ reserved the right to make another offer within the next six months if the LSE agreed to a deal or if a rival bidder emerged.
Exchanges across Europe and on the other side of the Atlantic continue are consolidating as they seek to expand beyond their borders to stay competitive and generate new revenue sources.
For the past year, LSE chief executive Clara Furse is believed to have been actively hunting for a suitor to speed up growth at her exchange, which had stalled.
A link-up with another exchange would allow the LSE to diversify into derivatives, the high-earning trading instruments of which it currently has little, and give it a separate clearing and settlement system -- often used as cash cows to support exchange dealing.
NYSE Chief Executive John Thain said in January that the exchange wants to play "a leadership role" in the industry's consolidation, citing the LSE, Deutsche Boerse and Euronext as the companies it was monitoring.
London ranks fourth behind the New York, NASDAQ and Tokyo exchanges in market capitalization and third in value of equity trading, so a deal with another bourse would likely push it into second place.
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