Bloomberg: NYSE Taps JPMorgan, Societe Generale For Euronext IPO

(RTTNews) - NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYX), the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has chosen JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Societe Generale SA (SCGLY.PK) to help arrange an initial public offering of its European equity operations, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

According to the Bloomberg report, a stake in the Euronext unit, which controls markets in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam, may be sold in 2014. The sale could raise about 750 million euros or $1 billion, though the final size of the deal has not yet been determined.

In April 2007, New York-based NYSE Group acquired Paris-based Euronext NV for $14.3 billion. IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) agreed to buy NYSE Group for about $8.2 billion in cash and stock in December 2012.

At that time, ICE said it plans to explore an initial public offering of Euronext as a Continental European-based entity following the closing of the acquisition, if market conditions and European policy makers supported the offering.

ICE plans to maintain the position of NYSE Liffe in London as a leading international market operator for derivatives products, including its benchmark interest rate complex. NYSE Liffe execution and clearing will be merged into ICE Clear Europe, which will provide clearing services to the London market of NYSE Liffe.

While U.S. regulators last week approved ICE's acquisition of NYSE Euronext, the deal still requires approval from individual country regulators in Europe. The European Commission approved the deal in June. The merger deal is expected to close in the second half of 2013.

New York-based NYSE Euronext operates various stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, Inc., and NYSE Amex LLC in the U.S,. and five Europe-based exchanges that comprise Euronext N.V.

NYX closed Tuesday's trading at $42.34, up $0.27 or 0.64 percent on a volume of 1.55 million shares.