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EU regulators told the two companies that they plan to prohibit the deal to create the world’s largest exchange because it would monopolise derivatives trading in the region, according to two people familiar with the draft decision in December. NYSE and Deutsche Börse appealed directly to commission President José Manuel Barroso earlier this month to try to salvage their merger, arguing that an EU ban would harm European exchanges and drive business to other parts of the world.
A veto may suggest “that the regulators have renewed confidence to torpedo high-profile deals”, said Alasdair Balfour, a London-based lawyer with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. National competition regulators from the EU last week backed Almunia’s plan to block the deal
NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse can withdraw from the merger if they are handed down a “final, binding and non-appealable” refusal of the deal. Each exchange “must have used its reasonable best efforts to prevent the denial”, according to the offer document. The companies may otherwise be liable to pay a €250 million ($325.4 million) break-up fee.