After six months, Euronext, a pan-European Exchange , announced this Wednesday that it has acquired 97.8 percent of the total issued and outstanding share capital of Oslo Børs VPS.
As Finance Magnates reported, Euronext initially published its offer document on the 14th of January this year. Towards the end of May, the exchange announced an unconditional offer to acquire up to 100% of Oslo Børs VPS’s capital.
Following the Acquisition , Euronext will fully consolidate Oslo Børs VPS accounts, the statement published today outlined. The unconditional offer, which was launched on May 31, to acquire the remaining outstanding shares not already owned by the Amsterdam-headquartered firm remains open for acceptance until June 28.
If any outstanding shares remain after this period, Euronext will initiate a compulsory acquisition procedure to acquire any remaining shares not tendered, today’s statement said.
Euronext vs. Nasdaq
Euronext’s journey to acquire Oslo Børs VPS was not without competition. After the exchange published its offer document in January, Nasdaq quickly announced that it would release a counter offer towards the end of the month.
After the initial offers were made at the beginning of the year, Euronext and Nasdaq continued to increase their offers and extended the acceptance periods. However, the deciding factor came in May when Norway’s Ministry of Finance gave clearance to Euronext to acquire up to 100 percent of Oslo Børs’ capital.
With the approval given by the ministry, the pan-European exchange confirmed its intention to complete the acquisition of the exchange and central securities depository operator in Norway by the end of June this year.
Following this decision, Nasdaq AB, an indirect subsidiary of Nasdaq, Inc, withdrew from the race to acquire the issued shares of Oslo Børs VPS, because the minimum acceptance condition needed to complete the transaction was “incapable of being satisfied.”
