Nasdaq is inching closer to victory in an 18 month long struggle to buy a European stock exchange after Borse Dubai, the Middle East-based bourse with which it is working to buy Nordic operator OMX, came within 3% of securing control of the company.

The US exchange said in a statement this morning that Borse Dubai, which which it has struck a complex agreement to swap control of the OMX stake, had slashed the acceptance level required from 90% to 50% plus one share. At the same time, it has secured almost half the shares in the exchange after buying an additional 18.5% from six key shareholders. It now holds 47.6% of OMX through direct ownership and options.