The two biggest American exchange operators are rivals for virtually every IPO in the country and competed for Facebook, which filed for a $5 billion initial public offering on Feb. 1. Winning the IPO would mean more fees, a boost in trading revenue and the chance to link an exchange's brand with the largest social-networking website in the world.
"People are asking about what it means for NYSE to lose it, but it was critical for Nasdaq to win," Richard Repetto, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP in New York, said in a phone interview. "What it does is it keeps the momentum and likely leads to further IPOs in the future. Whatever brand Facebook attracts, whether it's tech or social media, it likely helps Nasdaq's cause."
Robert Madden, a Nasdaq OMX spokesman, declined to comment on the decision. So did Jonathan Thaw of Facebook and Rich Adamonis of NYSE Euronext.
Blow to Niederauer
The decision is the latest blow to Niederauer, who saw his own attempt to merge with Deutsche Boerse AG fall apart when European antitrust regulators blocked the deal. Shares of the company slid 13 percent in 2011, while Nasdaq OMX climbed 3.3 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was little changed.
Greifeld will get bragging rights about luring Facebook after his unsolicited attempt to acquire the New York Stock Exchange parent in conjunction with IntercontinentalExchange Inc. fizzled out when the Justice Department said last May it would sue to block such a transaction. Niederauer was on the board that rejected Greifeld's offer and referred to it as "loosely worded and full of unanswered questions" in an interview with Bloomberg on April 10.
Nasdaq rose 1.2 percent to $25.52 yesterday, while NYSE Euronext fell 1.3 percent to $28.31.
Biggest Technology Companies
Nasdaq OMX lists seven of the 10 biggest U.S. technology companies by market value, including Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., the two largest, as well as Google Inc. and Intel Corp. The NYSE is the home venue for International Business Machines Corp., ranked third.
Inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 Index may have spurred Facebook toward Nasdaq, Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based Ipox Schuster LLC, which has about $2 billion tied to indexes that track IPOs, said in a phone interview. The benchmark gauge comprises nonfinancial companies including Apple and Google.
The Nasdaq-100 has surged 165 percent since equity markets bottomed in March 2009, beating the 107 percent gain by the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
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