Nasdaq and ICE have been frozen out. Only nine days after the duo bid for NYSE Euronext, the target's board said it is sticking with the original plan to sell itself to Deutsche Börse. That the IntercontinentalExchange and Nasdaq OMX's joint proposal is worth more than $11bn, about $1.6bn more than Deutsche Börse's earlier offer, wasn't enough to shake NYSE's recommendation.

Apart from the long and bitter rivalry with Nasdaq, NYSE has good reason to be nervous of the joint bid. It carries significant antitrust risk, given the monopoly it would create in US stock listings. The bidders don't have confirmed financing. Indeed, the purchase would be a stretch for smaller Nasdaq. Complicating the approach is Nasdaq/ICE's plan to carve up NYSE into its stock and derivatives businesses.