NITE should benefit on this news in the future if we are closer to Nasdaq taking Majority ownership of Easdaq:
Easdaq holders eliminate restrictions on ownership
BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Easdaq said on Monday its shareholders had voted to eliminate restrictions on voting rights, clearing the way to allow a single party to take a majority stake in the pan-European stock exchange.
"It was (done) at a special shareholders meeting," Dirk Tirez, Easdaq's general counsel, told Reuters. "It was called because shareholders had voted to eliminate voting rights restrictions (in order) to allow any party to a majority stake in Easdaq."
The previous restrictions in the exchange's articles of association had limited any single party to controlling a maximum of 20 percent of the exchange's voting rights.
Asked why a special shareholders meeting was called to make the change, Tirze said, "That was the shareholders decision."
Asked to comment further on whether the move was linked to reports that Easdaq and Nasdaq are in talks to have the U.S. market take a 60-percent stake in the Brussels-based exchange, Tirez said, "I have no comment beyond what I've told you."
Currently, Knight Trading Group (NASDAQ:NITE), Nasdaq's No. 1 market maker, is Easdaq's single largest shareholder with a 19-percent stake.
Nasdaq, one of Easdaq's original shareholders, holds less than one percent.
An industry source has said that cash-strapped Easdaq could be close to reaching a deal by the end of this month.
Observers familiar with Easdaq have said that the exchange is thought to be surviving on bridge loans from its shareholders while seeking a strategic deal |
