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Elaborating on remarks about Deutsche Boerse's readiness for talks with Euronext he had made in a statement on Tuesday, Francioni said a merged Deutsche Boerse-Euronext group would be 'a natural nucleus' for the further consolidation of European stock exchanges.
'We are inviting Euronext in particular and other potential partners to a continuation of a dialogue with the aim of achieving European stock exchange consolidation,' he said.
'I am convinced that positive solutions are within reach, even if I will not be making any forecasts here today in terms of time,' he added.
Deutsche Boerse's supervisory board was not informed in advance of Francioni's plans for partnership talks with Euronext, two sources close to the supervisory board said.
'That was not on the agenda of the meeting,' one source told Reuters on Wednesday. The supervisory board met on Tuesday to review the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2005 accounts.
'I can confirm that the supervisory board did not discuss the matter,' said another source. 'We must see what Francioni actually wants. The supervisory board does not want a hostile bid,' this source said.
Euronext runs the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon stock markets. Deutsche Boerse owns Eurex, the world's leading derivatives exchange, jointly with the Swiss stock exchange.
Consolidation would enable European securities markets to strengthen their position in relation to non-European operators, particularly those in the United States, and would make European capital markets more attractive for both investors and issuers, Francioni told the news conference.
According to Deutsche Boerse, a group consisting of itself and Euronext would be Europe's biggest, overtaking the London Stock Exchange, and the world's third biggest for cash market trading. In terms of derivatives trading, it would be the largest operator globally.
'The combined group would create substantial value for its customers by considerably reducing system complexity from a customer's perspective through the integration and harmonisation of the trading infrastructure,' Francioni said.
Deutsche Boerse and Euronext have said that they held cooperation talks but failed to come to terms. Referring to those talks, Francioni said Deutsche Boerse 'continues to be in favour of a dialogue with a view towards a combination of two partners.'
'A transaction must be economically compelling, strategically attractive and politically viable,' he said.
(Additional reporting by Andreas Framke)