Euronext said in a statement on 22 May that after a careful review of merger bid proposals submitted by both Deutsche Börse and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) its supervisory board felt a Euronext/NYSE combination was the "most attractive".
At the pan-European exchange's AGM on 23 May shareholders voted against the proposal brought by shareholder Winchfield Holdings that a merger with Deutsche Börse was in their best interests.
A spokesperson for Euronext told FO Week that this vote did not mean that a merger with the German exchange had been ruled out entirely but that shareholders wanted time to review all possibilities.
"Euronext is the preferred partner of a number of parties both in Europe and now in the US with NYSE coming in. It has a huge number of options available to it," the spokesperson said.
Sources have suggested that despite the board's preferences, shareholders might want to...