NYSE Euronext Looks to Buy Rival Amex

NYSE Euronext, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is in talks to buy its smaller rival the American Stock Exchange, according to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The deal could be valued at close to $350 million, and the closely held Amex has been looking for months at possible combinations, including a sale to exchange operators in Canada and Germany.

Still, NYSE Euronext has emerged as a front-runner recently, and a combination could be announced as soon as this month, sources familiar with the matter told the Journal.  Issues that could prevent a deal include price. Amex is expected to seek a premium despite declining business conditions in some core business, the WSJ reported. 

Analysts say an Amex acquisition could boost the NYSE's listing, fund trading and stock-options businesses, as well as allow the NYSE to bring Amex's traders onto its trading floor, abandoned by hundreds of brokers and traders in recent months as their customers move to trading stocks electronically.

The deal would be the first big move by NYSE Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer, who stepped in when John Thain left in late 2007 to become CEO of Merrill Lynch.

While the dollar value of the Amex deal would likely be far smaller than some of the blockbusters of the past few years, the WSJ reported, it would bring together two of the biggest names that have historically represented the U.S. financial system. Only in recent decades have rivals NYSE and the Nasdaq Stock Market extended their dominance over Amex in listing and trading stocks.