Nasdaq Stock Market is abandoning its 31 per cent stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) five months after its takeover bid failed.
Nasdaq said it wants to sell the 61.3 million LSE shares but could not guarantee that it would.
New York-based Nasdaq said it would use $1 billion of any proceeds from a sale to pay off senior term debt and the rest to buy back shares. It said it was pursuing the sale because it believes its current stock price does not adequately reflect the value of its LSE stake.
Nasdaq estimated the stake sale would boost its stand-alone 2008 earnings per share by about 30 cents to 35 cents each. LSE shares were up 2.4 per cent to 1,300 pence each earlier. Nasdaq shares closed at $31.75 on Friday.